Jezzi

I was a sophomore in high school when I found her. I was visiting a friend in the housing tract across from ours, when we saw her wandering around the street. Knowing who her owners were, we took her back to them, thinking maybe she’d escaped on accident.

“We don’t want her” they told us.  At around 8 weeks old, they just put her out and didn’t think twice about it.

I took her home to my parents house and asked if I could keep her. They begrudgingly said yes, after I promised to clean up after her and feed her all by myself. That lasted a month, but I never stopped loving her.

When I left for college, she stayed with my parents. When I moved back up to the area, I was always in a place that didn’t allow dogs, so she could never come live with me. By that time she was more my parent’s dog than mine anyway.

The past year has been rough on her. She lost a lot of weight rather rapidly, as a result of the Leukemia that invaded her body. I saw her a little over a week ago, and she still looked happy to see me. She always pushed her head under your hand so you could pet her, and last week was no exception. The only difference was how skinny she was.

My sister came over tonight and told me that Jezzi wasn’t coming to the door when they came home anymore, and that her energy was non-existent. My mom called me a few hours later and told me they were putting her to sleep.  That she wouldn’t make it through the night.  I knew it was coming, so I managed not to break into tears. I held it together until my sister and her friend went home, and then I lost it.

She was a great dog, and I’ll miss her.

I love you, Jezzi.