Goodbye to a dear friend...

Miss Ellie

July 26, 2002 - October 19, 2010

It's amazing how attached you become to the family dog.  Miss Ellie used to be Sophie.  Back in 2002, this girl was ours for about 3 days.  In the throws of motherhood, (Benton was just 3 months old) I realized I had taken on a bigger task (puppy) than I knew I could handle.  She went to live with Mom.  She was always Mom's dog.  Mom and Ryan's that is.

Ellie died in the early morning hours of October 19th.  She had cancer of her heart.  A sack of fluid had filled around her heart making it harder and harder to breath.  It's a funny thing she had trouble with her heart here at the end, because this baby was nothing but heart.  She was the sweetest girl you'd ever met.  She will be missed terribly.

While sick on the eve of her passing, Ellie laid on the front porch at Mom's house.  The kids took turns laying with her and rubbing her back or head.  She was peaceful, but hardly moved.  Her breathing was heavy and troubled.  When Ryan arrived, her head popped up and her tail wagged.  I know this took a great amount of effort for her.  I know that was her way of showing her greatest love to her greatest pal.

Ellie liked food.  My most recent memory of Ellie was on Saturday.  We were having bagels up at Grammie's.  The kids would wander away from the table from time to time and Ellie would sly around their chair, launch both paws onto the table and steal their bagel.  We would all yell, "ELLIE!" She would look at us, swallow, and hop down.  Naughty girl.  I think she had at least 4 bagels for breakfast Saturday morning.

Ellie loved Delbert.  She would take off across the street to see him whenever she knew he was there.  Delbert would keep an extra loaf of bread around to bribe her with when it was time to go home.  He would feed her a piece at a time all the way home.

Ellie was a natural born mother.  While she never had babies of her own, she would mother the kids instinctively.  When the kids would sleep at Grammie's, Ellie would sleep outside their door until morning.  If the kids were swimming, she was crazy nervous.  She would pace the sides of the pool keeping her eyes on them at all times.  If she felt they might be in trouble (under the water etc.) she would bark to alert us.  When a new baby would join the family, Ellie would lie next to the base of the crib, bassinet or car seat, as though she were taking her shift.  She LOVED the kids.  Even Preston, a baby of few distinguishable words, calls "ELLLeee" when he sees her.  She would let the kids and babies pull her hair, tail or ears without even a hesitation.

Ellie was patient.  Ellie would regularly come to our house and play with Molly.  Molly loved Ellie.  They would run and chase in the back yard.  Molly would actually run circles around Ellie while Ellie would patiently watch.  It's almost like Ellie was thinking, "Are you for real dog?"  She would stand at the back of the car when it was time to go home and patiently wait for Ryan to lift all 150 pounds of her into the back of the car.


Ellie will be missed.  Missed in a way words probably can't describe.  She was a member of the family.  She was Mom's baby, but dearly loved by us all.