In Memory: Millicent Vestal

(Note:  I didn't writ this.  This is Casie's obit, but I concede that it reaches a level of perfection that I could never duplicate.)

"Millie was found this Sunday morning, October 05, 2008, down by the road in front of our house.  Whether she was hit by a passerby or maybe killed by another dog, we don't know.  She went missing the day that we returned from our California trip and despite walking up and down the road relentlessly this week and checking the ditches, all the sudden there she is.  Our minds are now somewhat at rest for at least we know where she is and that she's not lost or scared.    

 I'm sure for most of you, this e-mail is quite dramatic.  But truth is, I know some of you got along very well with Millie and for those of you who didn't, you at least tolerated her (and for that we are eternally grateful).  There are a lot of dog lovers on both sides of mine and Jeffery's families and having to tell the details over and over will be hard on me, so this seemed a little overboard, but reasonable.   

For those of you that don't know, (and if we remember correctly), Millie was born on Ms. Jennifer's birthday, January 04, 2004.  It's kind of ridiculous to remember a dog's birthday maybe, but considering the circumstances, how could we forget it?  A little hard to when your mother-in-law shared the date with what she used to call her 'first grand-baby'.     

Jeffery had heard from one of those Moore Boys that Sandy and Philip Moore's feist had a litter of puppies with a pug and they were the cutest puppies around.  (Which is why when people asked, 'What kind of dog is she?' we answered, 'She's a FUG'!)  I had been begging Jeffery for a dog, since he was stationed in Memphis, to help with how quiet the house was while he was gone. At first he said no, but when he laid eyes on the puppies he called me and said to go ahead and get dibs on one.  We bought her at about 5 weeks old because Sandy had said the mother dog had quit feeding them and she didn't want them to starve.  The petite pup cost us 25 whole dollars, in which Sandy said  the money from the litter was going into Trevor and Colton's savings accounts.  I never thought I'd buy a dog, but adopt a mutt from an animal shelter or something, but it was a little money and went to a good place to good people and once I saw them, well, honestly, I might've paid more.  When I bent down to look into the dog house all lit up with a heat lamp, I saw all the puppies crouched in the back corner.  But this one was a little nosey and was the only one to check me out.  I scooped her up and said 'This one's mine.'  Out of all of them, she had the curliest tail and the best personality...of course I thought that-she picked ME out!    

 I took her straight over to Gail's house, which some of you know is a short distance away from Sandy and Philip's.  She fit in the palm of our hands and we gushed about how cute she was.     

That night I put her in a box beside my bed, but she cried all night.  I finally put her in bed with me thinking about how bad she must miss her mama and that's when I accidentally started the habit of her sleeping in bed with us.  And whenever she stayed at Elbert and Linda's or my mom's, she had to sleep in the bed with them, too.  Under the covers and cuddled up to either the legs or the stomach.  Everyone accepted her into their homes, their beds, and for the rest of you who liked her, your hearts.  Even Ricky, who I was unsure about Millie being in his house.  I later on found out he didn't want a dog in his house, but the next thing you know when I brought her over to visit, if she whined at the door he would jump up and say, 'Come on, Millie'.  She was almost like a first dog for JT, and maybe the fact that he liked to play with her so much may have made it OK.  

 I know she wasn't the nicest dog to some, but for those of you that she decided to love, she loved you til the day she died.  And for those of you that she took up with right away, like Kacee, JT, Troy and Josh, well, ya'll were special because it really took her a long time in most cases to warm up to people.   For all of you who loved her, who took her in, and even those of you that she may not have liked but you kept trying and trying to create a spark, for those of you who fed her peas from the dinner table and those of you that took her riding around in your cars, for those of you who endured the dog hair on your clothes and let her in your lap anyways, I wanted you to know that I remember all of it, I'm sure she did, too, and I appreciate every bit of it.  We'll miss her dearly, and I guess I'll feel a little guilty for just a little while, but my sister, Gail, said to me the other day, 'Millie had a better life in one day that what most dogs have in their whole lives.'  And that is the dog-gone truth!  We managed to spoil that little dog rotten, and maybe not so much once Amelia got here, but we still found time for her here and there, whether it was Jeffery riding her around on the farm or Amelia and I taking a ball outside to play with her.  She was loved and her life was good.  We just wanted you all to know that."