My Girl Mellie July 15, 1997 - July 20, 2011

by Mary
(Rocklin CA)

Fourteen years ago, a shy, skinny little bit of a whippet came to live with me. We looked at each other and a special bond was formed. She was mine and I was hers and so our life began.

I was running a lot in those days so she became my running partner. She became more. She was my friend, my confidant, +my companion, my sister. I counted on her. To help raise my other two whippets, to let me know when it was time to go for a "walk" by closing the cabinet door on the TV with her nose. To demand, with her sharp bark, that it was time to eat, time to play, time with her. I understood her. She understood me.

Before I was married, Mellie shared my bed. One morning I woke up and she was sleeping beside me, of course with her head on a pillow. Her nose was touching my nose. I just laid there, our noses touching and looked at her. She opened her eyes and looked into mine. We stared at each other. Then she quietly closed her eyes, and gave a deep sigh. Her love for me was unquestionable.

When I met my husband, I needed her approval. She was jealous, at first, but Charlie's love for me and for her eventually won her over. But we both knew that Mellie was my girl and that he could have the love of the other two whippets but she was mine and I was hers. That's how it was.

Years in a dog's life seem to fly by. Our life together was filled with bike rides, car rides, trips to the ocean, walks to the park, to every place I could think of. In fourteen years, we were only separated twice. Once when I went to Europe and once when I visited my brother. She was upset and would not love on me for three days. It hurt and she knew it. I never left her again.

She had a way of sitting next to me and laying her head against my head. Kisses were a must. I gave her lots and lots on that special place between her eyes. My lipstick mark showed you where. Mellie was mine and I was hers. We shared something so special that I can't even begin to know how to explain it.

In the end, cancer took her. Nothing else could. She fought to stay and I fought to keep her. She wanted me beside her all the time. I was there beside her all the time. Remember, she was mine and I was hers. That's the way it was.

As I sit here writing this, tears pouring down my face, a giant pain in my heart, missing her is an understatement. Her love for me, and my love for her, will live on, in my heart. It will try to replace the great hole she left there. She was MY girl.

Remember: She was mine and I was hers. That's the way it will always be.