Heart Hope by Olga

Roxy's Final Resting Place Roxy, our dog, was always young at heart. People would mistake her for a puppy even after she was well into double digits. Her enthusiasm for life and excitement in receiving guests made her seem much younger than her years. Her veterinarian would often comment on what a healthy dog she was, free from many genetic things that appear in full breed dogs. We never really figured out what mix of breeds Roxy was, but we do know that she had Terrier blood, because of certain features and characteristics. In the last year and a half of her life, we began to see that the inevitable would happen and Roxy would not be with us forever. Her hips became so weak that she could hardly walk, so a painful visit to the doctor was in order to determine a course of action. A shot of steroids was given which provided an amazing transformation to her body and she was given an extra eighteen months of quality life. She did however slow down and although she still wanted ...

Queen Roxy Roxie had a good life. She lived in the city while in Texas and the mountains of Colorado—the best of both worlds. She lived in apartments in Lubbock, condos in Boulder and the family home in Fort Worth. She even got to go to “camp” when we were out of town. She had two doting sisters—Margaret and Lynn, but Roxie pretty much ruled the roost. Roxy was often stuck with me, so we forged a strong bond. Being an “alpha” dog she began to think that she was the master and I was the slave, since I was always there to feed her, walk her and let her in and out at her every whim. I was all right playing that part. As the girls grew up and left home, Roxy remained in the family residence except for brief visits to Texas Tech and Houston. On one visit to see Margaret in Houston, our precious sweet little innocent dog discovered a basket of Valentines Day candy and ate the whole thing. Well, everyone knows that a dog can die if they eat chocolate, never mind the plastic an...

Roxy was our beloved pet for 14 years. We got her for my daughter Lynn’s sixteenth birthday. Lynn had been begging for a dog and in a weak moment we agreed to her request. We decided that a pound puppy would be a good choice, so off to PetsMart we went, since they brought in a selection of puppies for adoption each weekend. Upon surveying the motley crew of dogs and cats, Lynn and I spotted a couple of cute white dogs with black and brown spots—a brother and sister pair, but we weren’t quite sure if one of them might be “the right one.” So back to the car for the next stop, and off to the humane society we went. Anytime you go to a place like that you hurt for the sad little animals just peering through the cages, longing to be grabbed up into your arms to be loved and cared for and you wish that you could take them all home. After checking out the big dogs, the small dogs, the old and the young, the hairy and even scary dogs, it was determined that none of those was meant to go home...