Ode to Missy

Missy was what I think of as a once in a lifetime dog.  I didn't want a puppy.  I had two young kids at home and my hands were full.  But my neighbor, who owns a dog kennel and does animal rescue, asked me one day if I was interested in a puppy.  She had a fascinating story.  Her mother had shown up at the door of her owners holding Missy in her mouth.  The owners hadn't known their dog was pregnant and it never occurred to them to look for more puppies outside.  Being that it was early April in upstate NY, two puppies froze to death outside that night.  The mother developed an infection when she couldn't birth the whole litter and passed away two days later, leaving Missy and orphan and the only survivor out of the entire litter.  The owners brought her to my friend who bottle fed Missy goat's milk round the clock.  Missy thrived under her care and when she turned five weeks old she became part of our family.  She grew up with my boys.  She went sleigh riding with them on our hill, took long walks with us, hung out in our back field when we played baseball.  We discovered she had a talent...she could "sing" Happy Birthday.  All you had to do was get out the cake and light the candles and she was the happiest dog on earth.  She would howl and sing right along with us.  Of course, she always got a piece of cake.
Missy mothered everything that came into this house.  From kittens, who could often be found curled up next to her, to a baby goat that needed the warmth and love she could provide while I was at work.  My son had a pet rat that we used to let swim in our pool.  After one such swim the rat was placed on a poolside chair.  The rat, being a rat, tried to get down to explore.  Missy kept gently nudging him back onto the chair with her nose.  After repeatedly doing this she got so frustrated she put her entire head on top of the rat so he couldn't move.  My mother in law said she never would've believed it if she didn't see it.  The rat wasn't the only creature she looked after.  We had a cat who used to love to hunt and torture baby bunnies.  One day I saw Missy intervening and saving a baby bunny.  She was truly a very unique dog.  I used to say she didn't know she was a dog.  She never grew up around other dogs and so I really think she thought she was human.
When my husband would wrestle with our boys, Missy would assume he was hurting them and so would bring a toy of hers to try and distract him.  She was a true peacemaker.
In August of 2010, Missy was diagnosed with cancer and given a week to two weeks to live.  Devastated, I brought her home, thinking that we had a big decision to make.  But she wasn't suffering, she still ate, still got excited over a car ride, so we let her enjoy the life she had left.  She lived until November 2011 when she finally succumbed to the cancer and one day could no longer stand.  It was the week of my son's birthday and she still "sang" to him even though she did it from her bed.  On the day that we were going to end her pain, I came home from work and found her gone.  That was her final gift to us...sparing us from having to make that decision.

I miss her dearly, it took me months to be able to go to her grave.  Birthdays will never be the same without her.  But I am so lucky to have had a friend like her for 9 1/2 years.