A whole decade. Already.

Photo copyright Wings, 2019; all rights reserved.

It's been a whole decade. Already. It seems absolutely impossible that Animiikins, Little Thunder (a/k/a Little Dude, Little Big Man, and a bunch of other nicknames appropriate to his small stature and outsized spirit). He was with us only parts of six days, but the hole in our hearts never leaves.

He was another Pueblo rescue. Some girls from another shop told us he'd been hit by a truck, not enough to break anything, but enough to leave him crying in pain and fear. it was the end of the day, and there would be no one to call to take him, so we took him instead. He walked with his head tilted to one side, and he had some other neurological oddities that manifest by the end of the week, so we arranged to take him to the vet the following Monday (this date ten years ago). And then the sniffling started.

Distemper. Contrary to popular belief, it is technically possible to bring a dog back from it, but it takes a huge amount of work combined with ALL the planets and spirits being aligned on his side. And right then, when we were battling for our lives in a war that would eventually cost us the house and our vehicles, nothing was aligned. The vet said he could not be saved; "too far gone," was how he put it. And I was there alone with him at the vet, and I had to make the decision. There on the table, he snuggled himself into a little circle in the crook of my arm, then looked up at me, and I swear he was saying, "I know what you have to do, and I know why, and it's okay," and then he smiled at me with that little puppy smile and buried his head in my arm and went to sleep. And then, about 10:20, the vet came back in to the room and inserted the needle, and he went to sleep on a whole other level.

And I wept all the way home. Three miles; it's a miracle I made it. They had helped me wrap him a blanket I had in the car, and we buried him on the southwest side, not too far from the pond, and Griffin was so angry with me with for so long over it.

As I always do with all of them, I went out to his resting place this morning, and I left him some cedar and some tobacco and some water. And some more tears to go with the hole that still sits empty in both our hearts.

We love you, Animiikins. Your spirit is as big as your namesake.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.