As weeks go, it's fair to say that for us as a family this past one confined to history, hasn't been one of our better ones. It was a week when we finally had to admit defeat and say good-bye to our beloved Lucy.
Every so often in life, if we are fortunate, a real gem comes into our lives and for us this gem came in the form of dear Lucy.
Sweet and with an endearing gentle nature, there were times I swear she could talk to you.
She really hadn't a bad bone in her body, and even at the last when she was in obvious pain and discomfort that nature never wavered.
In her last days when we stepped outside and, despite our protests, she would still struggle up on to her feet to greet us because that was the type of her, loyal and friendly to the end.
When we took her to the vets there was always that glimmer of hope that it was nothing serious and could be fixed.
Alas it was not to be and when the phone call came, that deep down I suppose I had been dreading, I took the unbearably difficult, but correct decision to end her suffering.
There was an extremely slim chance of medication perhaps extending her days a little bit more but, taking on board what the vet was saying to me, it would have only been selfish on my part to go down this road....it was only putting off the inevitable.
As anyone who has been faced with this awful dilemma will testify, it is not a decision to take lightly and one which ultimately leads to feelings of, I suppose, remorse and regret.
However for me these feelings are tempered with the knowledge that ultimately the right thing was done for Lucy, and her suffering is no more.
As a rescue dog, we take consolation in the fact that Lucy's last years were the happiest of her life.
I thought the world of her, and it's not an exaggeration to say that she got me through some dark times in the past two years.
I miss, and will always miss her dreadfully.
Many, many happy times were spent in her company, and for that I feel blessed and am truly thankful.
In closing, I know I'll never see her again, well at least not in this life.
But my earnest wish is that, perhaps like some form of Native American creed, Lucy is now........and forever, running free.
Farewell dear, sweet girl.............
