The Samp
Brook and I have had the immense pleasure of being best friends with this perfect animal. He was very loyal, very sweet. He made a great buddy for 10 years. We just lost him last night. I am grieving today. I will miss him terribly.
Samson was a chocolate chihuahua, 6 pounds. He had the demeanor of a teddy bear crossed with a rag doll, come to life. He liked to stay close to us wherever we went. He was Brook’s little shadow. Most of the time we would take him with us when we would travel. He would see his carrier come out, and he would beam with joy… marvelous tail wagging wonderfully. The tail was great… very expressive. When we would say his name he would wag it slowly. If we would say his name over and over fast (SampSampSampySamp), he would wag it real fast. So cute!
Last April I felt a lump on his side. We took him to the vet immediately. We weighed his options and decided to keep him on 2 medications. Operating would be too complex as he wasn’t aging as well as we’d hoped. He did quite well for 7 months. Then the tumor started to grow really aggressively. Arthritic bones were having trouble supporting the extra weight. Samp slowed down a lot in the last week. He didn’t seem to be in a lot of pain, but breathing got more difficult, and walking, too.
We kept praying that he would fall asleep and not wake up. We would bring him to bed with us over the last 4 days, because we didn’t want him to die alone. We knew he was getting closer… though still not “suffering” enough to have him put down. Yesterday he decided he was done eating, even his special favorites. We took him out for a nice walk, carrying him. He liked it. It was a good last day. We thought we’d have to take him to the vet today. But around 1AM last night, he woke us up to say goodbye. He was snuggled up to Brook, and we were with him for his last breath. It is a sad kind of relief that he then died. We didn’t want him to suffer. He lived well, and died well. Strong and brave. He was a great gift to us from God. A great delight. I will love him for the rest of my life.
Laurie–this is so touching. I, like Barb, am very moved and found the last paragraph very difficult to get through–tough to read through the tears. I am so so sorry for yours and Brook’s loss. He had a great life with you two.
So sorry to hear of your loss.