Maxie's farewell picture

At 2 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18th, Maxie had her final seizure and her little heart stopped beating. She was planning to go to Illinois with us to visit her Grammy and Grampy but she didn't make it. Her little body is buried in the church pet cemetery with a single rose on top of the grave.

I still cry when I fix only one plate of food...when only one set for four paws accompanies me through the house....when I get to sleep on my pillow all night because no one borrows it. I can't get rid of her clothes...she has lots of them. Memories of Maxie are all around me. She was my first "inside" dog, a real little snuggler, thought the vet was a spa, loved to have her tummy scratched and she was a great Mom to her 6 babies. I am so thankful that she left me Opie, even though he is sad now too.

We leave tomorrow morning for a trip to Illinois as we had planned. I know it will be wonderful to visit with my family and see the beauty of Illinois and Wisconsin. And maybe our hearts will start to mend. Maxie will always have a special place in my memories....along with Chula, Tiffany, Canela, Nicolasa, Heidi, Preciosa, Semafaro, Priscilla......and even Tippy, Trixie, Snookie from my childhood.

I have added lots of pictures and some comments about Maxie....they are in reverse order but you can enjoy them, if you wish.

Next to the last picture of Maxie

We had a picture-taking session because it was Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16th and because Maxie had a balloon for her birthday which was on Aug. 15th. She was 5 years old. Maxie did really well posing with me, but she was doing a lot of trembling. She slept well that night and had a good day on Wednesday....she did the neighborhood watch, enjoyed eating chicken, and even went out to the fence to greet Mariela, our neighbor when she came home from school.

Mama, please get well!

Opie was so worried when his Mom, Maxie, stared having seizures. He would watch her closely and come for me if I wasn't right by her. When she went back to sleep, Opie would curl up right beside and take a nap too...but always with one eye open.

Neighborhood watch

Maxie loved to join Opie at the gate and watch the traffic on our street. They took their job very seriously and did a lot of barking and checking out the people who walked by our fence.

Confetti filled eggs

Maxie loved to find hidden confetti filled eggs and break them open. She enjoyed playing in all the bright colored pieces of confetti.

Pillows

Maxie loved pillows....all sizes and shapes. She loved to make a big pile of pillows and then snuggle down on top of them all. And she loved to take pillows away from me to add to her pile

Christmas, 2005

Maxie always loved dressing up. She wore dresses and fleece shirts or jackets and loved it!

Grammy with Opie and Maxie

Aren't we darling???

Opie is the black puppy with the most white showing. The other black puppy is Wendy Lou who lives in Minnesota and has turned almost white. Two of the other boys are Samson and Stryker who now live in Panama. Kiara lives in Veracruz and Carolina lives with her father down the street from us.

Proud mother of 6 puppies born on June 7, 2005

Maxie chose my bed for having her puppies and she wanted me right there beside her the whole time. The last little black boy puppy was not breathing when he was born. The vet told me how to help open his airways and start him breathing and then let Maxie take over. Between us, Opie was always the smallest of the batch, but he made it.

Tomorrow is my due date!

Well, I can't walk up the steps alone! All I can do is sleep, eat, and wait. The vet says I am having 2 or 3 puppies, but I think there are at least 10 babies about to be born. And he says I have another week to go. I will explode first.

Two and half weeks to go.

Yep! We are going to be parents!

Carolino and Maxie's wedding, April 1, 2005

Maxie's second Christmas

Maxie sees snow, Christmas Day, 2004

First trip to Illinois

I DID IT!!!!!!

I really did it!!! If you read my blog for the end of July/beginning of August, you will find the long list of things that would happen in August! EVERY SINGLE ONE HAPPENED!!! (of course, I didn't have a lot to do with Mom's surgery, Melissa's birthday, Allison's move to Albuquerque! LOL!!) But I don't have any carry-overs to September. I just thought you would want to know!!!! And since today is Labor Day, I won't even make a list for this month.