GRACIE’S GOODBYE (#27). When we got to Big Dog Rescue, the women in charge started to bring out the big dogs, most black, hound, lab, or pit bull mixes. I explained that because of allergies I was only interested in a poodle mix. She brought out the dog we had seen on the internet, then named “Weezer”, and to be polite Cathy went to the kennels to look at the other dogs.
Weezer had been in a dog crate for 6 months, ever since her owner had gone into a nursing home. She only got out twice a day, and had a lot of pent up energy. She ran around me in circles until I sat down in the grass, then she jumped in my lap. When she looked up at me, with her bright eyes and long eyelashes, I knew we had found our dog.
However, Cathy wasn’t sold on Weezer. She didn’t think Elle liked her. As we got in the car to leave, I said, “If we don’t get this dog, then I don’t want to hear anything else about a dog for Elle!” Cathy reconsidered and said, “Let’s see how Weezer acts in the car with Elle.” Cathy went back, talked to the lady, and paid $75 with the understanding that we could bring Weezer right back if the dogs didn’t get along in the car.
When Cathy came out with Weezer, I already had Elle in her doggie harness attached to a seat belt. When Cathy opened the back door, Weezer jumped right in and sat down, as if to say, “OK! Buckle me up and let’s hit the road.” On the way home Cathy realized that since we had to put Elle in a kennel once while she was teaching, Elle probably thought we were going to leave her at a kennel again. That was why Elle was so quiet and wouldn’t play with Weezer. On the way home we also renamed Weezer, “Gracie.”
Gracie loved her new home. When we took a walk in the woods, Elle and Gracie would keep running ahead and then back to us. We loved to watch their wagging tails and doggie butts bouncing down the trail. When we took the dogs to Wilson’s Creek, Elle would plunge right in, but Gracie would just venture out on the rocks, careful to not get wet. Elle could come out of the water, shake, and be dry in 15 minutes. When Gracie got a bath it would take her hours to completely dry, even after we dried her off with a towel.
What Gracie loved most was to ride in the car. Every Sunday we would drive to Cheek’s Crossroad to buy the Charlotte paper from the vending machine. When we got the car keys, Gracie would spin in circle and almost do back flips. We always needed change for the vending machines and we’d ask each other, “Do you have any quarters?” Gracie quickly figured out that meant we would be going for a ride, even before we got the keys, so we had to spell out q-u-a-r-t-e-r-s.
When we we driving down country roads we would roll down the windows so the dogs could stick their heads out the windows and smell the cows, but on the highways we rolled the windows up so they wouldn’t get anything in their eyes. Gracie figured out how to roll down the electric window, so we had to keep the child locks on.
It was a good thing the dogs liked the car, because when we started driving to SMA it was a 4 day, 3 night trip. When we moved full time to SMA, the dogs adjusted quickly and loved the garden courtyard at the yellow house and then the big garden of Casa Artista. They loved to be let loose to run in the park at the end of Calle Guadalupana.
There was also Lily. We lived in the yellow house when Cathy brought the baby bunny home from the Tuesday market. She made a harness from a sock and a leash from a piece of string and slowly introduced her to Elle and Gracie. Lily liked Gracie, maybe because they were the same color. Gracie didn’t mind Lily and let her stay close, often Lilly would run under Gracie’s legs. Elle, for the most part wasn’t interested in Lily.
Three years ago Gracie started to have health issues. She had a heart murmur and would tire easily. In January of 2019 Cathy was in Colorado for a month getting the family house ready for sale and taking care of her Father’s estate. Towards the end of the month Gracie quit eating and I had to carry her out to the yard. Finally, she just stood there in the yard shaking and I knew it was time to take her to Dr. Mike.
I remember when I was driving down Calle Guadalupana, I saw Pachi and David Frank talking. I pulled over, rolled down the window and said, “Say goodbye to Gracie.” They did and gave her a pat on the head, and I headed to Dr. Mike’s. Cathy was in Colorado, I had just come down with a bad cold, and this was the last time I would see Gracie. I didn’t think I could be more miserable, but I was wrong. Dr. Mike agreed that there was nothing more to be done and it was time to put Gracie to sleep. So sad, I wish Cathy could have been with us.
When it was over, I told Dr. Mike I had a meeting at Hecho in Mexico and asked if I could leave my car parked at his office for a while. Then I left poor Gracie, and took my cold to a lunch meeting that did not go well.