Sweet Molly

Growing up my parents didn't let my sister and me have pets. I don't really know why, but I don't remember us begging them for a dog like most kids do. We just aren't pet people. Daniel apparently didn't know that...for Christmas my senior year of college he got me a puppy. I remember him bringing this big box into my mom's house. When I went to open it, the top moved! I couldn't believe there was a puppy in that box! My mom wasn't too thrilled about having a dog in her house, and I didn't really know what to think. I didn't know anything about dogs...I was scared of most dogs that came my way. She was a tri-colored beagle, and she was the cutest thing I had ever seen. We took her outside and played all afternoon.

 

I still can't believe how small she was! I remember taking her to my aunt's house and putting her in the front yard at the bottom of a hill and how funny she looked running up that hill.

 

We had already planned to visit my sister and brother-in-law in St. Simon's Island for New Year's, so here's Molly on her first road trip.

 

Less than a year after Molly was born, she had four puppies. Two of them made it, and the trio was formed. Molly, Shorty, and Winnebago had a good life together for many, many years.

 

While we were in Indianapolis the dogs were staying with Papaw in Illinois. One day Papaw found Winnebago dead in the yard. We were very sad, but happy to see the other pups when we got home.

 

The kids love playing with the pups...they are just their size.

 

The past month or so we had noticed Molly was walking funny, like she had arthritis. We could just tell she was getting old. She was twelve and a half, after all. One day last week I went to let them out, and Molly couldn't move. She just looked at me, and I could tell something was wrong. Luckily Daniel was home and we immediately took her to the vet. We left her there and got a call later that Molly essentially had no blood. It looked like she had gotten into rat poison, but we didn't know how. The vet said she recommended putting her down, but she died before we had the chance to make that decision.

 

We are so sad. Molly was my first pet, and she was a good one. But the saddest part is watching Shorty. She's all by herself, and is just sad. She's so used to having another dog around, and she doesn't know what to do with herself.

 

Hopefully we will get Shorty a friend soon. Right now we are just remembering how special Molly was and how much we miss her. We hope our Susannah is playing with her in heaven and has a little piece of us with her.