We’ve lost a crew member

I fell for the free puppy trick about 10 and a half years ago at the ripe age of 22. It was love at first sight as I picked her from the litter. She had beautiful markings and a sweet soul to match. It was a done deal.  I remember driving her from Oregon to Novato with specific instructions from my Dad to keep her in the back seat and in a kennel so I would not be distracted. About 6 miles later, I pulled over, set her and her blanket on my passenger seat. We’ve been rebels together ever since.

Over the years she was with me during the most challenging times, and also the greatest. Meeting Brad was the greatest gift for her and I.  I know in my heart he extended her life by years. He introduced her to the beach, gave her a sister and always bought her Zorra sized treats. He was a sucker for her even during her crafty crapper days. For the record, Zorra has been expunged from pooping in the house. It never happened. 😉

Zorra had been in the fight of her life with congestive heart failure and it finally took her from us. The day of her passing I frantically called her veterinarian along with UC Davis Cardiology. The advice given was to bump up her meds but it was likely too late. Prior to our trip we took her to UC Davis for a tune up and wanted to get her on the best medication plan possible based on her current condition. The hard fact to accept is that her condition was severe, and had been for at least 5 months. Once diagnosed at severe, you’re lucky to have them for another 3 months. In typical fashion our girl kept fighting for her next meal. We did everything we could to make her comfortable and were both with her as she passed. I refused to believe she had left us and could not stop petting her.  I just wanted one last glimpse of eye contact, one last lick on the face, one last wag of the tail. One last…

We had previously talked about a burial at sea plan and that is what we did. My Mom made us two beautiful dog blankets to take with us on the trip. Zorra loved laying on them as they were soft and extra padded. It seemed right to wrap her up in one of those blankets for the burial. I was completely beside myself but Brad stepped up and wrapped our baby up one last time. It was beautiful and she was wrapped in a blanket of pure love.

I am SO glad we made the choice to take her with us. We were able to spend the last few weeks with her practically at arms reach at all times. She enjoyed swimming with us (us holding her tightly to our chests as we swam), watching the boats and jets skis pass us in the anchorage, she loved being on deck when we caught fish, and with each passing day her tail would wag a little more as she explored the boat. Living on the boat with her was a pleasure. I will miss her little face creeping in all the port lights.  I will miss the thump of her wagging tail whenever she saw us. I will miss her gremlin noises.  I will miss her begging face.  I will miss her unconditional love even when I didn’t deserve it. My baby girl, you will be missed more than you could have ever imagined and you were loved beyond words. The God of the Sea, Poseidon, has been given the greatest gift, our girl.

May you always Rest In Peace, Zorra Bear. November 16th, 2017.