Lily Willie Grew Her Angel Wings

Our little Lily grew her angel wings this morning and flew off to the rainbow bridge. I like to think of her meeting Chichi and Tiny and Emma and Sugar and Alfred and Holly and Baxter there. What a wonderful crew of old soldiers to be with. Of course, they aren't old soldiers when they get there. They will be young and healthy and running again.

She came to us from Southeast Pug Rescue (who are no longer in business.) I picked her up in Atlanta on the way home from the bloggy meetup in Blowing Rock, NC., back in 2011. She rode on my lap in the backseat the whole way home. She was a little pug and had some issues that seemed to be anxiety related. She fit in well here. I think it helped that I work from home and was not gone too much. She circled me a lot for years, but that calmed down over time. She loved to run and bark with the other pugs. Later in life she developed what we called a "yowl." She would yowl when one of us would drive up after being gone. She would yowl whenever the other pugs would be barking at the front door if they heard a knock or the wind blow a acorn or something and make a sound against the door.

She liked a good chew but didn't really care for stuffed toys. I bought a purple soft blanket in Atlanta before picking her up to bring her home on. I still have the blanket and use it on the bed along with Emma's pink blanket that I brought her home on.

Her back legs have always given her trouble and we knew over time that there would be a day that would come that would either be surgery or let her go. She had developed a problem with her spine over the past few years. She was not walking much and lately falling a lot. I carried her a lot and picked her up because she could not get up a step at all. It has progressively gotten worse and since Christmas, she had gone downhill fast. She stopped being able to relieve herself at all this week. At her age and with expense of surgery and care, we felt like her quality of life would not improve much if she survived it.

We sure will miss her, and I will miss her so much because she followed me everywhere and I was always making sure she could get where she was going. My heart feels like a big puzzle and now this is the 8th piece missing but also eight pieces fulfilled of a puzzle not finished yet. I am so thankful that I was able to have her to take care of for this time of her life and mine. I am so thankful for each pug that has come to us over the past 23 years.


This is the last picture that I have of her.