Last October, just before Anderson's fall break, Samson--our then ten year old Siberian Husky who was our first "baby" in so many ways--became totally lame. He had struggled with what appeared to be arthritis in his rear hips and legs, and he had lost sensation in parts of those legs as well. For three days, he could not get up, even to go to the rest room, and he was panting heavily--clearly in distress. We took him to the vet, and the prognosis was fairly grim. She tried to comfort us with the fact that one of her cat patients had recovered from this, but if we wanted to put him down, they would do that for us. We opted to wait. We brought him home, cooked him chicken and rice for every meal, and prayed over him.
I will never forget the day we brought him home from the vet and I was sitting in the pinestraw with him crying and praying for God to intervene when Anderson came over, placed his hands on Samson and prayed: "God, if Samson will be able to walk again, please let him walk again in three days. If he won't, then please take him to Heaven to be with you." I asked Anderson after he prayed, "So why did you ask God to do this in three days?" "I don't know," was his reponse, "I guess because the Bible says that 'the Son of Man will rise again in three days'. There's just something about three days'". Well, God answered that child's prayer. Three days later, I look out the window to see Samson walking across the back yard.
This past year, Samson has struggled to walk, but his happy heart and his playfulness have remained. We were so thankful that he was able to walk again that we were not as bothered by the fact that his hind legs were almost crippled. We decided that as long as he was happy, we wouldn't intervene. He was spoiled--getting a lot of chicken and rice and yummy leftovers.
Over the last few months, though, the reality that Samson was an old dog and that his quality of life was diminishing set in. He still whined to go on walks with us but could not make it out of the driveway. We wondered if he would get to the point where he no longer desired to live, and if he did, would we know? We prayed we would never have to make the decision to euthanize him, but we did not want him to suffer in any way.
Our neighbors, Brian and Kim and their sons, Ian and Casey, were a surrogate family to Samson. They always cared for him when we were gone, and even when we were home, they would take him on walks, feed him leftovers, pet him, and play with him. Our fences even had a gate so that their new puppy, Floyd, could come visit Samson and play. Brian called Samson his "buddy", and Samson knew that he was loved by them. No question.
This past Sunday morning, just a week ago today, we left for the airport to go to Disney World. Paul went out in the back yard to feed and water Samson and to tell him goodbye. Samson seemed perfectly fine. Our neighbors spent most of the day outdoors, and at some point during that day, they noticed that Samson seemed sick. He just didn't seem like himself. They gave him plenty of water, but when they offered him treats or even homemade chicken and rice, he refused to eat. By evening, they were very concerned about him. He was panting very heavily and was unresponsive, and Brian felt he needed to get him to the vet as soon as possible. At 6:00, Brian and Kim tried calling Paul on his cell and my parents at their home, but he could not reach any of us. We were checking out the attractions in the Magic Kingdom. Around 7 pm, Paul gets Brian's message, so he returns the call. It was then that Paul learned the heart breaking news. Bennett and I were waiting outside of the Lilo and Stitch attraction when Paul walks up to me and whispers, "Samson passed." Needless to say, we were shocked. We went ahead and told Anderson, even though it was the first day of our long-awaited vacation, because he never likes it when we keep things from him.
We learned that Brian had stayed with Samson for about thirty minutes when he realized Samson was fading. He petted him, loved on him, and reassured him as Samson breathed his final breaths. There is no one on this earth that we would have wanted to be with Samson during this moment more than Brian if we couldn't be there with him because Brian loved him so much. It brought great comfort to know that Samson went quickly and didn't seem to be in any pain and that someone he loved kept him company in those final moments.
Brian insisted on burying Samson for us, even though Paul repeatedly told him we would pay someone to come take care of him. Brian refused saying that Samson was his buddy and he wanted to do it. We live in some of the hardest clay on the planet. I can only imagine how long it took Brian and his sons to dig a hole deep enough to accomodate a 75 pound dog under an oak tree with roots! But they did it, and they outlined his gravesite with bricks so we would always know exactly where he was buried.
In the grief that you feel when you lose your beloved family pet, we have found solace in knowing that the blessings of God have been ours in abundance. Samson lived to be an old dog--eleven years old. God gave us an entire year to prepare for his passing, and that made such a difference in our grief. I always dreaded watching him die or going through the burial process because that has always been so difficult for me with previous pets. Mercifully, I was spared this part of the experience this time, and I am grateful.
One of the greatest blessings to us has been the love and service of our neighbors, the Baileys. Truly, Paul and I cannot think of another family outside of our own that has constantly demonstrated the love of God Himself to us. Galatians 5:14 says, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" The Baileys have certainly fulfilled that to us.
Because we wanted to enjoy the rest of our trip to Disney World (which was so much fun and worthy of a post of its own), we postponed the grieving process as much as we could. When we drove in the driveway Friday night, Samson's absence at our fence was more than noticeable, and Paul's words from the night we first learned Samson had died echoed in my mind: I miss my dog.
Sure, people who don't have pets cannot understand that when a dog becomes your pet, he isn't just a dog. He's a family member. And as silly as it may even seem to some, you do grieve their loss in a similar way to the loss of any other loved one. I do believe dogs go to Heaven. Scripture says in Ecclesiastes that we don't know what happens to the beast when it dies, but I believe that dogs have spirits, and spirits live on. It brings me comfort to imagine that Samson can run again...something he has wanted to do for a long time and something he and I did together for years. And I believe he, along with Marcy, Amos, Jada, Nic and Katie will be waiting for me when I get there, too.
Bennett never called Samson by his name. He called him "good dog" because that is what he always heard us say to Sammy. I think that is fitting because in addition to being our friend, playmate, running companion, and guard dog, that was exactly what he was.
A good dog.
