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In memory of Coco

Coco had a massive stroke around 3 AM Saturday morning. I held her close until it was over and she survived the event, but it became clear she would not recover this time---she's had maybe a dozen mini-strokes over the past eight months, but it was obvious that this time it was a major event. After consulting with a wonderful local veteranarian, there was really no choice other than ending her suffering peacefully by putting her to sleep. We took Coco to the vet as a family, and even before we left the house we knew that Coco would not be coming home. Our family has faced some really tough challenges, but the difficulty of this caught me off guard. I think it was partly because I'd also promised myself and Coco that I would not end her life unnaturally, that I would care for her to the very end even if it meant carrying her into the yard three times a day. But, she couldn't move, she couldn't eat, she couldn't stand, and the vet pointed out the symptoms that indicated that Coco's brain was swelling and that she was likely in a lot of pain, a diagnosis confirmed by my observation that whenever I moved her head she would tense and sometimes whimper. For all the love this small but marvelous creature had given me for almost fifteen years, I could not allow her to suffer like this for hours or days. Ritina, Thomas, Taylor and I were all with her, and I know she felt our love right to the very end.

I'm sure there are those that probably think I'm just nuts going on about a dog like this as if she were a human child, but I also know there are those of you who truly understand. Coco wasn't just some animal that ran around our house; she was family, giving and receiving as much love as all the rest of us, and her death leaves a tremendous hole in our daily lives. Coco was our first "baby", joining Ritina and I almost three years before Thomas was born. She was an intelligent creature with a playful spirit that thrived even to the very last day of her life. Do you see those two toys with her in the photo? She would play with those things and with us all the time. She'd grab them by a tail or an arm and toss them around the living room in front of us until we'd join her.

I learned a lot from this dog. She lived only a few months shy of fifteen years, a marvelous lifespan for a dog, and I believe the reason was in large part due to her approach to life. She was loving and playful to the very end, and she never forgot what it was like to be a puppy. How many of us would live enriched lives if we only remembered and embraced the joys and wonders of being a child.

Thank you, Coco, for fifteen years of unconditional love and friendship. I promise I will never forget you.

Posted by Ron Pacheco at March 14, 2006 11:18 AM | TrackBack