By Yesterday I had to say good bye to my sweet fur baby Mavis. This has been a tough year for her with some miraculous rallies and recoveries. I have prayed fervently for a miracle, which was answered with several good days amidst some not so good days. I begged Mavis not to leave me and I know that she held on as long as she could because she loved me as much as I loved her.
Unfortunately whatever was wrong got worse to the point that I had to make the kindest and toughest decision. I thank God for bringing Dr. Raskin, her vet, into my life. He has been incredibly supportive and kind during this journey which culminated with me unfortunately having to ask him to put her to sleep.
Mavis was a sweet and spicy little dog. Someone dumped her in rural Louisiana in February 2013 and she found her way to me. There was a storm thundering loudly and I looked outside to see a little face looking in through the glass door. She was very skittish at first but I sat on the ground quietly, bribing her with food. When she finally broke through her fear, she wrapped around my heart.
Mavis was terribly afraid of white trucks and teenage boys which made me believe she experienced some abuse in her prior life. I can’t imagine anyone hurting her when I looked into her big brown eyes.
She enjoyed a full life. She’s been to the beach multiple times. She’s been to the mountains. She’s been boat riding on a lake. She’s lived in Georgia and Louisiana and visited Tennessee, South Carolina and been on countless roadtrips.
Mavis was very particular about who she let into her inner circle, but she fiercely loved those few that she let in…and every one else (dog or human) would usually get barked at. Sounds kinda like me.
Mavis has been my support as I navigated life in this past decade+. She’s seen me through moves, a divorce, both my parents’ deaths and her sister’s death (Roxie), a botched relocation to London, Covid. She was my reason to get up in the morning and my reason to stop working each evening.
I thought I would sleep last night, exhausted from the day. Instead I was awake. The silence was deafening. I was listening out for her, but she is gone. No more cute snores or restless resettling followed by a deep sigh when she found the perfect spot to curl up in.
I have over 900 pictures of Mavis and multiple videos that I could share. Here are two that I’ve selected. The first is from January 2017 – my favorite silly picture of Mavis. That is a chew bone in her mouth but I thought it looked like she was smoking a cigarette. The second is outside my townhome yesterday. It was a beautiful Fall day that she got to spend strolling through the neighborhood, laying in the grass and enjoying the sun.
Rest in peace, my sweet sweet Mavis. I can’t wait to see you in Heaven when I get there.
