This is a late entry but I am having the will to put it up here because of how much she meant to me and still does. The She I am referring to is my lovely black Labrador Cole who will live in my heart forever, as she was a sister to me. On February 6th at 9:43 pm it had been about roughly a little over twenty-four hours since Cole had been in the animal hospital. The Jefferson Animal Hospital was taking great care of her after the surgery. Cole's stomach had rotated 360 degrees and was constricting the blood to her spleen. Her gall bladder and pancreas we both inflamed and by that time my mother had told the doctor to go through with surgery February 5th, yes it was on Monday. My mother had Cole as a daughter within her heart and didn't want her to go through the whole experience alone and suffer in immense pain. She had stayed with her till a little after 1:04 am on the morning of the 6th that I which had noticed when I woke up before I had planned to go to school.
Later that day I had been told that the surgery was a success and that they also amputated her tail, which had a large sist upon it. That evening when I got there She was laid upon her right side in the cage and was having a little trouble breathing. My mother and I spoke petted her for a while as we spoke to her of the times we very remember. The memories of when we lived in our old house in Germantown and from then on they just spewed out. Once when we were across the street a window would be open and she would climb out the window to get to us. On many occasions when we left Cole outside while we were away she would un latch the metal gate and walk out to the front yard and sit or lay down on the front porch. We would look for her and yell for her but never could find her until she came walking to the back yard or we went to look for her. We had her ever since she was about two months old and I just happen to be almost 2 years old at the time. My mother told me of the time when we all went out, my brother and I at our grandparents and mother and father at work, and when she came home Cole was laying on the couch. The spot from which she laid was her spot for which seemed her whole life, she always slept there. Many times she would come up to the table and we would feed her table scraps, and later on in the days we would pet her and lay all over her. Her beautiful almond, earth eyes always made me happy when I looked deep inside them.
Over the many summers we shared, Cole always seemed to go lay under the sheds shadow, the days when she used to be young and slender. When we retrieved the plastic pool on those hot summer days my mother would fill the pool up and Cole would just walk over and plop down into it. She lie there and let my brother and I poured bucket after bucket of water onto her.
Then as we grew up she always laid in that same spot on the couch but as my mothers and fathers arguments increased she seemed more afraid of our father than any of us. She seemed to lower her head and walk towards my brother or me, almost trying to protect us from him. As the years went on it was the same ole thing after another with her and my father, even though he seemed to not notice how she did seem to cower in fear of him but more afraid for us. I could see that in her actions, in her eyes as I became close to her year after year. Until my father moves out the stress lifted up from all of us, because of the house we moved into a couple years earlier.
Now during storms she would walk hastily up the stairs to my moms' bedroom to protect her. About every evening and during the storms she would do that and in time it was hard for her to walk upon the wooden steps. In time she quit at this and just lid down stairs, but when it stormed horribly she would try to gain the power to walk up the stairs, as her tail would bleed excessively. We cared for her tail and for her as well as we could up until her legs would begin to slide from under her and her arthritis would kick in and there was nothing anyone could do. My brother sent a text to our father but he did not reply back as he thought it was his dog as well, my father did as much as he could to replace Cole and found a new lab and named him Smokey, which is the name of a friend of the families pet.
Now we tried the surgery, which helped a bit, but today it was less than helpful. WE knew she was going to die but me, myself could not cry. I petted her, kissed her, laid my head in her, feeling her and becoming one with her as her last moments arose. She was having horrible time breathing and was in pain but could not feel it as the medication subsided it. I could see in her eyes that she was losing her life; her pupils had dilated, and would kick about every so often. I held her head into my hands as she struggled to breath as her eyes rolled back and her head cocked back. She stopped breathing her eyes slowly closing as she died there with my mom and I by her side at exactly 11:00pm on the 6th. My mom cried painfully as I did myself but not as much as I could not cry for some reason even though I was strong for my mom. I held her there in my hands, hugged her head and kissed it repeatedly. I loved and still love her with all my heart, as she was a sister to me, and a daughter to my mom.
My mother told me right before she passed that she wanted to be by Cole's side when she was going to pass from this life into the next and be my brothers and mines guardian angel. This was of course the time my mom wanted to take me home, but I told her that I would stay with her knowing the condition of Cole at that time. At 11:39 pm that evening we drove home for the night as I pondered on the events and am writing about it now. If you want to see a pic of her look at my portfolio and I think there is at least one of her on there as I will add 2 or 3 more later. Love of an animal is the same of human, and will always stay with you through your entire life.
Jefferson Animal Hospital
February 6, 2007
Begin 9:36pm
End 11:39pm
You come out at night
That's when the energy comes
And the dark side's light
And the vampires roam
You strut your rasta wear
And your suicide poem
And a cross from a faith that died
Before Jesus came
You're building a mystery
You live in a church
Where you sleep with voodoo dolls
And you won't give up the search
For the ghosts in the halls
You wear sandals in the snow
And a smile that won't wash away
Can you look out the window
Without your shadow getting in the way?
You're so beautiful
With an edge and charm
but so careful
When I'm in your arms
Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You woke up screaming aloud
A prayer from your secret god
You feed off our fears
And hold back your tears, oh
Give us a tantrum
And a know it all grin
Just when we need one
When the evening's thin
You're a beautiful
A beautiful fucked up man
You're setting up your
Razor wire shrine
Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Ooh you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You're building a mystery
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