Goodbye Little Sushi

Last night the kids were reading my blog books.  I used to blog ALL THE TIME when they were little and I was home with them everyday, but then they got bigger and life got hectic.  I started the photography business, they started school and we seem to be going all the time, but I regret letting this fall off my plate and for them... now that I've seen them enjoying it... I will make this blog a priority.


Unfortunately, I am starting this blog back up with the loss of Sushi.  I want to capture the little things, but I cannot let this big thing pass and not capture it.

I got Sushi in 2001, before Jerry... before the kids.  She was ADORABLE.  A year or so later, Jerry and I got together and I got Sake to keep Sushi company.  15 years later....

Back in June, I took Sushi to the vet with an eye ulcer.  It required surgery and that very day it was performed to save her eye.  She whimpered and cried for 3 days and had to wear a cone for 3 weeks.  At only 5 lbs, we was miserable with the cone.  I questioned myself and whether or not I made the right decision.  For months, I put drops in her eye several times a day, but noticed her vision going.  She already couldn't hear... but I noticed her truly not being able to see.  At her next eye exam, we discovered an ulcer in the other eye.  A genetic trait and reoccurring.  We could have opted for another surgery...  but it would only be a temporary fix.

Sushi was 15.  She struggled to get in/out of bed and suffered from a loss of hearing, sight and other afflictions.  Another surgery was not in her best interest.

We spent the weekend with Sushi and on October 5th, I took her to the vet.  I held her wrapped in a blanket.  She was relaxed and almost asleep when the vet administered the drugs and we let her go.  She is buried in a shoebox with a pink blanket and loving notes from the kids in our bluebonnet field and an angel statue to look over her.

It's been two weeks and my heart still breaks.  I knew I loved her, but never imagined how much I would miss her.

A Dog’s Plea

Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I might lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the thing you would have me learn.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when the sound of your footsteps falls upon my waiting ear.

Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements.  I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.

  Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, my friend, when I am very old and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going.  I am not having any fun.  Please see to it that my life is taken gently.  I shall leave this Earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands.

Sake has become very spoiled since the loss of Sushi.  She spends her days in the studio with me and finds herself getting to go on a lot of car rides.  I know she misses Sushi as well.