Desi

This is a hard post to write so I'll keep it brief. During the first week of September my sweet Desi passed away. It came without much warning. That Tuesday she began to have seizures -- the same condition that affected her sister, Lucy, at the end of her life. I knew then Desi's time with us would be brief, but I didn't realize how quickly she would slip away. When Lucy began to have seizures, they were infrequent, and she ended up passing away about three months after her first episode. Desi didn't even make it 48 hours. The seizures hit her hard, and come Thursday we knew she wouldn't make it through the day. Troy and I stayed up all night with her as her breathing became irregular. Come morning, she had the look like she knew it was time to go. She walked over to my side of the bed, the place where she slept every night, and laid down. Within a few minutes she was gone.

We adopted our Corgis from Friends Of Animals when they were 12 years old. Their previous owner, Jean, had passed away, leaving the two sisters without a home. Troy and I received them through our fostering program, but after a week of having those two at our house, we were hooked. We promptly filled out the paperwork, and made them official residents of the Madsen home.

The Corgis instantly became my little shadows. Wherever I went, there were eight stubby, quick-moving legs close behind. I couldn't even shower without two black noses pressed against the shower door. :)  It didn't take them long to realize the love went both ways. Whenever they passed through the garage they would plop down next to my car knowing I'd load them up, and take them for a ride to get a treat. This eventually became a move they would pull three to four times a day, and the routine carried on for two years.

And now, a month since Desi passed away and eight months since Lucy left, I still miss them every day. But as hard as it is to let go of the best dogs I've ever known, I know they're happy to see each other again.