Abby Smith
1998-2010
They say that a dog is man's best friend. Well, I would have agreed with that saying and would have insisted that it didn't pertain to women. I have to admit I am not that excited about animals, especially pets, as over the years it has meant more work for me.
However, Abby was special and she will be missed. We have had two dog's that have been with us for years in our family. The first dog was called April. She was a Terrier mix, a mutt, and part of the Smith family. Our children learned about the birds and bees from her and about loss. We got her the minute we knew we had just bought our first home. Neal and I had told the kids for years that as soon as we owned a home we could get a dog. Well, after years of waiting we got our first home and April. She was with us almost up until our last child left for college. She was our family dog. Abby, a Border Terrier, entered our lives when we were early empty nesters. We inherited her from Derrick. It is enough to say that they had a brand new baby and Abby came to live with us. She was so little that she could curl up in a ball on our bed and hardly be noticed. She is the only dog who has ever slept in my bed and up against me. We have teased Derrick for years about giving her back (especially when she ate a hole in our couch, our screen door, ran away for the hundredth time, and chewed up some of our precious things). But, we never gave her back. We actually found company with her around. You never felt alone when she was at home. She could slip out of the yard and make her way to just about any house around. Every one of the neighbors knew her and would call us and say, "Abby is visiting us again". We met most of our neighbors because of her. While living in Seaside she dug out of our yard and was arrested by the local police. Neal and I got home from Portland to find our backyard empty and a message on our phone that Abby was at the police station. When we arrived at the station her mugshot picture was posted with the caption, "Dog at large". The poor thing was in a cage next to a huge dog and she looked like she was going to fall over dead from fright. The ticket was $700.00!!! So, I went to court, promised we would keep her chained up, and we got off with about 10% of that. It was a pretty humiliating experience having to go before the judge (me a school teacher) as I realized that one of my kids was in court as well. Unfortunately, she was not there because of her dog. But, that is another story. Anyway, Abby has been really slowing down. She was almost 13 years old. She was going blind and was very hard of hearing. She woke up very sick this past week and we decided it was time. Most of you know that our grandaughter, Kaylee, lives with us during the week. So, we took Abby into our vet on Saturday when she was gone with Jeffrey. The vet has been her doctor for 10 years. He was so sweet. He put her to sleep first and then finished the job. Neal started crying and I had tears falling down my face. How could a little dog get to mean so much to us? Well, she did. We will miss her. And, Kaylee? Well, she came home Sunday and looked around and said, "Grandma, where's Abby?" We were kind of hoping she wouldn't notice. So, I told her she had been very sick and died. She looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "What does died mean"? So, I reminder her of our talk about Heavenly Father. And, how when you die you go and live with him. Without skipping a beat she looked up at me and said,"Well, if Abby is living with Heavenly Father, couldn't we go get a puppy that is not sick to come live with us?" Neal and I looked at each other and sighed. I said, "Ask you Father!"
Goodbye Abby, we loved you and you will be missed!
Laura and Neal Smith
1998-2010
They say that a dog is man's best friend. Well, I would have agreed with that saying and would have insisted that it didn't pertain to women. I have to admit I am not that excited about animals, especially pets, as over the years it has meant more work for me.
However, Abby was special and she will be missed. We have had two dog's that have been with us for years in our family. The first dog was called April. She was a Terrier mix, a mutt, and part of the Smith family. Our children learned about the birds and bees from her and about loss. We got her the minute we knew we had just bought our first home. Neal and I had told the kids for years that as soon as we owned a home we could get a dog. Well, after years of waiting we got our first home and April. She was with us almost up until our last child left for college. She was our family dog. Abby, a Border Terrier, entered our lives when we were early empty nesters. We inherited her from Derrick. It is enough to say that they had a brand new baby and Abby came to live with us. She was so little that she could curl up in a ball on our bed and hardly be noticed. She is the only dog who has ever slept in my bed and up against me. We have teased Derrick for years about giving her back (especially when she ate a hole in our couch, our screen door, ran away for the hundredth time, and chewed up some of our precious things). But, we never gave her back. We actually found company with her around. You never felt alone when she was at home. She could slip out of the yard and make her way to just about any house around. Every one of the neighbors knew her and would call us and say, "Abby is visiting us again". We met most of our neighbors because of her. While living in Seaside she dug out of our yard and was arrested by the local police. Neal and I got home from Portland to find our backyard empty and a message on our phone that Abby was at the police station. When we arrived at the station her mugshot picture was posted with the caption, "Dog at large". The poor thing was in a cage next to a huge dog and she looked like she was going to fall over dead from fright. The ticket was $700.00!!! So, I went to court, promised we would keep her chained up, and we got off with about 10% of that. It was a pretty humiliating experience having to go before the judge (me a school teacher) as I realized that one of my kids was in court as well. Unfortunately, she was not there because of her dog. But, that is another story. Anyway, Abby has been really slowing down. She was almost 13 years old. She was going blind and was very hard of hearing. She woke up very sick this past week and we decided it was time. Most of you know that our grandaughter, Kaylee, lives with us during the week. So, we took Abby into our vet on Saturday when she was gone with Jeffrey. The vet has been her doctor for 10 years. He was so sweet. He put her to sleep first and then finished the job. Neal started crying and I had tears falling down my face. How could a little dog get to mean so much to us? Well, she did. We will miss her. And, Kaylee? Well, she came home Sunday and looked around and said, "Grandma, where's Abby?" We were kind of hoping she wouldn't notice. So, I told her she had been very sick and died. She looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "What does died mean"? So, I reminder her of our talk about Heavenly Father. And, how when you die you go and live with him. Without skipping a beat she looked up at me and said,"Well, if Abby is living with Heavenly Father, couldn't we go get a puppy that is not sick to come live with us?" Neal and I looked at each other and sighed. I said, "Ask you Father!"
Goodbye Abby, we loved you and you will be missed!
Laura and Neal Smith
