In Loving Memory Of Prissy

Prissy and I grew up together. I got her when I was only 7 years old. At the time I was a very lonely child and had few friends. She was the light in my life... a life that had been rather dark for a while. She was my very best and sometimes the only friend I had in this world.

I remember so many wonderful things about her. She had the most soulful eyes. She would have an instinctive sense that you were sad and needed comfort. She would look up at me with empathy in her eyes and nestle her soft head on my lap giving me comfort from all my worries. She was so very kind and loving. She was truly a friend in every sense of the word.

For a few of her birthdays I would give her a "birthday party" with just her and I. I doted on her and would have "photo sessions" where I would dress her up and even put makeup on her and play photographer. I even put her inside a basket of stuffed animals one time and she looked so pathetic as I clicked away. I look at that picture to this day and can still picture her little sad eyes in that basket of stuffed animals. It seems as if it were only yesterday. Prissy would do as I wanted. She was so sweet and so very loyal to me.

Prissy's favorite place to sleep was behind the couch. She would literally hide back there for hours on end lazily sleeping the day away. Mama and I would know just where to find her. If the couch were too close to the wall she would just nudge herself behind it until the couch moved ever so slightly so that she could fit! That was her special place.

Through the years as I grew up I naturally went out more and did more with other people. Not meaning to I did neglect and take advantage of Prissy. I loved her just as much as always but I took for granted that she would always be there. Now as I look back I know I did not show her as much love the last few years of her life because I selfishly was caught up in my own life and teenage worries. The last few months of her life, Prissy's age really started to show more and more. She looked as if it were painful just to get up and walk. She would have a look of sadness and agony in her eyes that she had never shown before. Always a lover of food Prissy got to the point of not hardly eating. She would lie around all of the time.

The day she passed away I was at work and my mother came to tell me that Prissy was taken to the vet and that she had a large massive tumor that was inoperable. She had cancer. A cancer that regardless of treatment would take away her life. It was hopeless and cruel to let her live on in the constant agony that was now her life. The gruelling choice had been made to end her suffering. The vet recommened that we uthenize her. Despite the heartache I accepted that the only humane thing to do was to end her suffering. Though I could not imagine living life without my long time childhood friend. All of the memories of her scampering through the yard playing in the rich green grass came rushing back. Remembering her excitement as I played with her...Remembering her comforting me as I cried for my Grandmother who was never coming back...remembering her crawling behind the couch to take a nap...remembering her birthday "parties"...remember our photo shoots..all of it was a wave of memories that kept rotating in my head.

I knew that as hard and painful as it would be that I had to be there. I left work and went to the vet. She laid so sad and quiet on the vet's table. It was as if she knew this was to be the last time she would see me. As frail as she was, still she had those soulful eyes on me so full of love. I looked into her eyes for what was to be the last time. I knew that as much as it would hurt I owed it to her to be there at this final moment of her life.

All the years she had comforted me and been my best friend had led me to this one final moment. She needed me more that ever and I was not about to leave her. The vet injected her and as she lay dying I held her as gently as I could telling her for the final time how much I loved her and thanking her for being my best and most loyal friend.

My grandfather came to help bury her. He dug up the soft earth and placed her box inside what was to be her final resting place. We buried her in our back yard where she and I had played so many times together. The cool summer breeze blew as we layed my dear friend in the earth. She was to be surrounded by nature in a shaded yard. She was to be in a place that held so many memories for us all.

I made a cross out of branches for her. I placed it in the ground. On her grave I lay a single red rose. I cried hysterically that night looking at her photos and reminiscing of all our years together. That day was one of the most painful I had ever experienced. I still halfway expected to find her napping behind the couch or coming to comfort me as I cried..but she never came. She only existed in my memories and of course my heart which now was shattered.

It has been years since she passed away. I still love her as much, maybe more than ever..if that is possible. I have been married for the past 8 years. My husband knew Prissy for only a short time. My husband and I have no children. A year ago we adopted a puppy. A beautiful Basset Hound named Butters. Butters strangely enough has the same "soulful eyes" as my dear Prissy did. He is just as loving and just as loyal as she was. I can't help but sometimes wonder if somehow, someway she has come home...or maybe she sent him to me knowing that I needed what I had been missing since she passed away. Maybe someday I will find the answers when I meet my dear friend in the blue horizon. Someday.




Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....