I'll never forget that day when I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the humane society. I had said 'no dog' previously, but I wasn't adverse to looking. Tyler saw that as a crack in my armor and instead of 'looking', he was 'shopping.' We came home with a dog.
It took me a while to get used to her. There is the famous quiche incident which almost ended with me giving the dog away. But Moxy was never for me in the first place. She was always for this one.
Trust me, we all loved her. We just showed it in different ways. Pearl showed her love by squishing the dog whenever possible. (Pearl doesn't even know a time before Moxy.) But I always thought of Moxy as Robyn's dog. And Robyn thought of her that way as well. It led to many an argument and some hurt feelings.
Pearl often won extra time with Moxy simply because she was home more while kids were in school.
Moxy was an official part of the family. Often the kids would say we had 8 people in our family because they were counting Moxy. It was really hard when we had to leave her at Grandma's for extended periods. Sometimes we were on vacation. There was that one time with the cat pee house. We were always very excited to get her back.
Moxy earned a place in our hearts. You can tell she was famous since portraits were done of her.
She slept with Robyn much of the time, but her favorite spot was always in my laundry pile. Usually we have a hamper, but whenever laundry was thrown in the closet, you would find Moxy there shortly afterward.
She loved the sun. She found all the best places to soak in the warm rays.
She was super patient right from the start. She never bit anyone. Her weapon of choice was licking. If kids got too crazy or pulled her fur, she would lick them in the face. Well...she'd lick you in the face anyway. She was a licker. Because she was small, she was toted around everywhere.
And whenever people came to visit, she was picked up and loved.
She was patient and loved to be in your lap. She was quite a snuggly dog. And she was nice and soft. Especially the white fur on her chest. So soft.
Moxy traveled well. When we first got her, we would put her in a kennel, but that didn't last too long.
This is one of my favorite pictures. It seems like this would be an uncomfortable position, but Moxy looks very content in her Sphinx pose.
Moxy was a CA dog, so she didn't love the cold weather, but she made it through the Utah winters just fine. Granny V made her some outfits that I would always take off her. She looked ridiculous.
Check out her pink nails. That was Granny V's work.
Moxy really wasn't high maintenance, although I still laugh at the evening I found her wearing a sleep mask.
She participated in our traditions and never complained.
She really was an amazing dog.
Moxy seemed to get a little sickly in July. I remember coming back from Idaho with her and she seemed frail. She has always been a skinny dog, but she seemed even thinner and wasn't eating well. I would say that she declined rapidly. She started to breathe shallowly and Tyler noticed right away and decided to make an appointment at the vet. He called Friday morning (while we were all off at Lagoon) but the vet was full. They didn't have any available appointments so they scheduled for Monday. They told Tyler that she would probably be fine over the weekend.
Tyler gave her some wet dogfood that evening. This is our last picture of her, but Tyler was excited that she was eating.
She was up a bit that night. Tyler remembers seeing her move from spot to spot, but she eventually settled in the closet, with the laundry. And we believe she passed away sometime in the early morning.
When I woke up, I saw her in the closet, but I didn't want to disturb her. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing that we didn't find her until after archery. I'm not sure anyone would have had a good time. As it was, Robyn was the one who went looking for her. I'm sorry she had to find Moxy.
It was a very hard experience. Moxy was one of the family. I'm sure it was awkward for Ethan as well. He was suddenly surrounded by seven very drippy-eyed people. Although Moxy was not his dog, I think he felt very sorry for our loss. He went down and took a nap while we had a small service for Moxy.
Each child was able to come and say goodbye to Moxy and then we wrapped her in a cloth and buried her in the yard. Each of the kids put flowers on her grave.
Robyn got a nice marker for her.
It has been hard for each person in their own way. There were frequent outbreaks of tears at any given moment for quite a while. I felt it too. Small things like when I was cooking and dropped something, I knew Moxy wasn't coming to get it. Even on the first day of school, when I came home from work, the first thing I did was look for Moxy, even though it had been over a month. It was just my daily routine. It has been hardest on Robyn, you might imagine. I feel like nights are one of the hardest time because she was used to snuggling with Moxy. (Well, Moxy actually slept on her head.) Another tough time is when she is feeling blue. Moxy was her go-to confidant. (Dogs are the best listeners.) There is no easy fix for grief. Time helps, but even it does not close a wound cleanly. There will always be a scar. And that is okay. I don't want to forget Moxy. She added so much to our family.
A neighbor was very kind and drew a picture for Robyn.
And Robyn did her own special drawing of her dog.
Moxy, you will always have a place in our hearts. I'm hoping that on the other side, you will be there to meet us, wagging your tail and ready to lick any feet that come close enough.
2 comments:
I'm not a dog person and didn't know Moxy very well, but reading your blog brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine how tough it's going to be on our family when April dies. They do have a way of creeping into your heart, don't they. Hope Moxy is enjoying the afterlife and eagerly awaiting your family.
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