My family is rather dog crazy -- Wifey has made it clear we will ALWAYS have them. The Ds inherited this love, too. D2 has Betsy, and enormous now 4 year old puppy, and D1 had Madeleine. So sadly, today was Madeleine's last day.
Oh boy did D1 adore that dog. During a visit home from UF, some neighbors came trick or treating with an adorable Spaniel named Peca -- Spanish for freckle. D1 asked them the breed, and learned Peca was a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. D1 was smitten, and vowed to get one.
She did -- finding a breeder in West Palm Beach, and on the drive home from Gainesville for Summer break after her junior year (I had flown to GNV to make the drive home with her) we stopped somewhere in West Palm, and D1 chose a little female puppy.
She mostly slept in D1's lap on the way home, and D1 named her Madeleine, after a beloved story about French orphans. I could tell D1 was quickly falling in love.
There was an issue, though -- Cavs were known for heart defects, and Wifey and D1 took the pup for a check. The vet said she was fine -- no issues that would mean a premature end. And boy was he right -- Mads made it to within days of 15 -- the last vet told D1 she was the oldest Cav he had ever treated.
But 15 is still too short -- for a dog who gave so much love and support. D1 is beside herself.
But the memories live forever. Madeleine was with D1 during her senior year at UF, all through grad school at FIU, and D1's various apartments and roommates on Brickell. When D1 was sick, there was Madeleine cheering her up, and D1 took her everywhere.
She became a therapy dog, and D1 would take Mads to local libraries, where kids would read to her. Turns out that kids who don't read well are reluctant to read to people, but eagerly read to dogs -- Mads did that for several years.
She was truly D1's companion from young adulthood, through careers, and marriage, and up to D1's becoming a mother of two sons. The humans in the house all adored her -- you couldn't avoid it -- Madeleine was so sweet and warm -- growling just a bit, and snapping with very few teeth when one of the boys would bother her.
But it was mostly pure, unconditional love that came from this little dog -- and we are all so grateful for that.
A few weeks ago, it looked like the end -- Mads had stopped eating. But it was a bout of pancreatitis, and she re-surfaced -- happily eating special meatballs D1 made for her, and wagging her tail.
Wifey and I knew that the end is often porpoising -- up and down -- and a few weeks later, indeed the time had come.
D2 is comforting her sister, and Wifey is on her way -- picking up the adorable 4 year old from Winter camp, and then heading home.
It's really one of the most unfair things in life -- that dogs live such short spans. But wow -- they pack so much love into those years.
So I like to hope there indeed is a Rainbow Bridge -- and Madeleine has crossed it, maybe to meet up with our other beloved dogs. My childhood dog Missy. Wifey's beloved Sunshine. Midnight and Alfred, the Lab and Cocker that taught Wifey and I we could indeed parent together. Honey -- the world's best Labrador, who brought our family love for 16 years! Molly, the comical Bassett Hound I bought for Wifey to soften the blow of D1 going away to college, and who lived just past that 4 year stint. And Bo the special needs Spaniel and Vienna, the strange rescue dog, who are still with us, albeit slowing down, and of course Betsy, D2's beloved girl.
They have meant, and mean, so much to us. Madeleine, we all love you very much.
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