Zoe

Where to begin.

In Dec 1997, we had recently moved into our townhouse on Horizon Ridge. We had talked about a pet, but I thought Steph would say the fish tank was enough. But one day she saw a dog on a commercial and said, you know Mac, we could have a dog like that yellow one. Keep it in the kitchen during the day while we are gone and it would be great.

Two weeks later a friend at work had just adopted a puppy from a shelter in Arlington Heights called Kay's. I went there at lunch one day and found that someone had dumped 8 brothers and sisters of a lab mix there the previous day. 3 yellow and 5 black dogs were jumping and running around the cage, but one was all over the people visiting. She was a licker, not a barker and I liked that. She licked my face and hands and I got to hold her and walk with her. You just never get used to puppy breath.

I got attached to her in about 8 seconds. I brought Steph there that night after work and she did not stop holding the dog for about 2 weeks. We really loved her, and we still do, very much.

As part of the adoption, a free spay at the local vet was included when she got a bit older. I'll never forget when we picked her up after being there for a day or two in the new pathfinder we had just got, I walked her around the lot for about 10 minutes because the vet said she had not gone to the bathroom in like a day, so the minute she was loaded and we pulled out, she let it fly, for about 5 minutes. I never thought I would get it all out of the car, but thankfully there was a plastic liner under the carpet so I just had to replace that.

Many other memories persist. She has traveled by airplane to South Carolina (to visit Grandma and Grandpa) many times, by car to Indiana and Tennessee (Where she loved to steal sausage sandwiches from people who she bit in the butt) and even up to Wisconsin to Lac De Flam Beau on Lake Tippicanoe, where she was so excited to be swimming after a couple of mallards in the lake, I had to take the boat and drive her back to shore because I was afraid she wouldn't make it back.

Unfortunately, Zoe was diagnosed with bone cancer this morning, and the end of her life is within reach. It's time to remember all the love and happiness she has provided for us, all the nicknames she has beared and all the fun we have had with her.

There is nothing more satisfying than to come home after any kind of day and have a good friend want to give you a kiss and wag her tail for you. It means that she is thankful that you have provided a great life for her, and that she appreciates all the times you cleaned up the shredded cardboard box before mom came home. It means that she likes to see you and likes to be part of what you are doing. It means that you have done well as a pet owner and with the responsibility that comes with it. It means you did a great job.

Thanks Zoe.