Miffy, I'll miss you

Guanshiyin Pusa (Buddhist Goddess of Mercy) got a new black Lab - our black Lab.

Our beloved Miffy-chan passed away Friday. She was 15 years, 2 months and 2 days old. Towards the end, she was suffering from bad eyes, bad ears, bad teeth, bad gums, bad back, bad hips and a bad stomach. She was really an obaa-chan (grandma). Ultimately, it was the cancerous tumor in her small intestines that put an end to all the pain.

Now she is pain-free, fat-free (dogs in heaven don't get fat) and romping around free. I'm happy for her. But now she has to go to doggie school for 49 days before she can be completely let back into heaven. I call it o-benkyo (study). I've written in her study schedule on my calendar. Her graduation date is 20 May.

Her diploma will be a ticket to come back here. But it's her choice where she wants to go - back to us, to someone else who could really use her love, or to stay in heaven and watch over us while enjoying the bottomless bowls of carob-dipped cookies and prime beef jerky.

I will miss her mischievousness, her sweetness, her gentleness.

I will remember how she used to jump on my bed as soon as the lights went off (because she knew Mom wouldn't come back into the room, have a cow and shoo her off the bed).

I will remember how she used to bring back half-dead animals (I think she was trying to say, "look look, I saved it!" when actually she probably accidentally just about killed it).

I will remember the times we drove in the Jeep to the Baskin Robbins in downtown Los Altos to share ice cream on the wooden sidewalk bench.

I will remember our nice, long hikes in Los Altos Hills.

I will remember how she used to chase after deer and refuse to come home until she'd had her fun.

I will remember how she used to help me finish the meat on my dinner plate when Mom wasn't looking.

I will remember how she tried to chew the house apart (including the really expensive furniture and all of our shoes) when she was teething, and I had to coat everything in sight with Bitter Apple.

I will remember how I used to drive her around in my two-door ///M3, how she was the coolest dog on the road...and how the leather got scratched up...

I will remember how she looooooved her peanut-butter stuffed Kong and just couldn't be disturbed until she got all of it out.

I will remember how she was Lucky's trusty henchman. Lucky would bark and Miffy would come charging down the hill and scare the living daylights out of people and their dogs when they were just walking by.

I will remember how we used to sit by the swimming pool eating watermelon, and when we weren't looking, she'd bite off a chunk of the watermelon that was in our hands and then pretend nothing happened.

I will remember how she let us pile heaps and heaps of sand on her until only her head stuck out at the Santa Cruz beach. She didn't move an inch or whine one time!

I will remember how patient and generous she was with Oreo when Oreo was just a puppy and needed a Mama figure to follow around, to sleep next to, to be attached to.

I will remember how she knew to sit down or to lay down when children were around and let them pet her.

I will remember how when I came back during breaks in college, she welcomed me home by jumping up and down really high with all four feet in the air.

I will remember how she came to me, leaned the side of her body on my legs when I said, "Miffy, give me a hug."

I will remember how she followed me around everywhere all the time, even if it's just to go to the bathroom attached to my room in the middle of the night.

I will remember how she was very stingy with her kisses, but would lick my face when people made me cry.

------------------------------

Miffy, thank you for sharing your life with us. Thank you for 15 years' worth of great times and a lifetime's worth of wonderful memories. Here's a picture of you in Los Altos Hills when you were about three. You closed your eyes and stuck out your tongue at me. You silly dog. I'll miss you. *BIG KISS*