Wonderful Neighbors!

My phone vibrates along the Georgia Highlands library desk. I answer my husband's call. He informs me that our neighbor Michelle has called. "She is concerned about our dog," he said. I call Michelle right away, uneasy about what I will be told.

A sincere voice answers. "Tammy, your dog Pugsley is breathing heavily," she said. "Where is he at," I ask hastly. She replied, "Pugsley is lying by the road of your front yard." I immediatly tell her, "thank you for letting me know" and hang up. I rush out of the library. Forgetting all about the algebra test I was studying for.

On my drive home, I could not stop thinking about our seven year old Terrier mix. (He
 is forty-nine in dog years.) I asked myself, "Is he going to be ok?" and "Why is he breathing hard?" The ten minute drive home felt like an eternity. As I turn into my drive way, I see Pugsley. He is lying helplessly along the front of our garage doors. (He must have managed to walk away from the road.)

I kneel over his body. He struggles to look up at me. "Hey boy, what's wrong?" I ask, in a soft voice. He only whimpers. Suddenly, his body shakes, turns, and twist. My beloved pet has no control over his muscles. I cry, as I watch an unbearable five minute seizure consume his body.

I stroke his long black and white hair as the seizure ceases. "It's going to be ok, your'e going to the vet," I said. I carry Pugsley to my car while my neighbors Robert and Barbara drive by. They stop. "Is everything alright?" they ask. After hearing the situation, they offer their assistance.

I tell them my son is getting off the school bus soon.  "I do not want him to see Pugsley like this," I said. Robert and Barbara insist on taking my dog to the vet. "We will call as soon as we have news from the doctor," they said. All I could say is thank you and I appreciate it.

The phone rings. I answer. A somber voice reply, "Tammy, I'm sorry but Pugsley's seizures cannot be stopped.", "He is suffering and the vet needs to put him to sleep," said Barbara. While tears flow down my face, I tell her I understand.

That evening my family and I bury our loyal friend  in his favorite resting spot. We cry together, remembering our special times with Pugsley and thanking God for our wonderful neighbors.