Life not easy for best friend

I love my dog. I don’t know how many different ways I can say it or shout it to the world. Cordy has been my best friend for 101⁄2 years. Some people would say that I am too attached to her, but as I look at it they have a right to their opinion and I have a right to mine. Pets are not for everyone, but mine means the world to me. There is not a moment or a second that goes by that I don’t think of her. And I know down deep in my heart Cordy feels the same way about me.

Cordy’s life has not been an easy one; she is a fighter and that is one of the qualities I admire about her. Cordy has been plagued by a lot of medical problems over the course of her life — her veterinarian would attest to that. Her medical chart is quite thick. If you added up all of Cordy’s vet bills over time, she probably could have a special wing added on to the vet clinic in her honor. Cordy’s vet and the vet clinic staff have been fantastic to her over the years and to me as well. Each person feels like an extended part of my family because they not only take care of my precious girl but reassure me that everything will be OK.

Cordy suffered a bad seizure in December, a week before Christmas, and recently experienced another one, but not quite as severe. I called and talked to her vet to see how we should approach the problem. He spoke to me very calmly and said that we would just keep an eye on her and that if they became more frequent then she would have to take medication for the problem. Not only did he answer a worried mother’s question, but he added a few words that really touched my heart. He said, “I know how much you love that dog.” It is really nice to know that in this day and age people still care about each other.

Cordy has had two major surgeries, one on each leg. In order to repair her legs, in subsequent years, she had to go to an animal hospital in Rockford, Ill. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was leave her in a kennel all alone right before surgery. I didn’t cry in front of her — a good parent knows not to do that. I stroked her head and said “you will be OK and I will see you later. Mommy will be back.” When I turned my back, the tears ran down my face like a waterfall. After surgery, the surgeon, who was a very kind man and a marathon runner to boot, let me go in to see her. Even though Cordy was still very drowsy from the anesthetic and wearing a cast, she tried to walk toward me. Now, if that isn’t a testament to love I don’t know what is.

A co-worker of mine recently lost her dog and I could tell before she even mentioned it that something was wrong. Pets have a special place in our hearts. They become another patch in our family quilt — never to be forgotten.

I grew up around dogs and since I was an only child they became my playmates. My old collie, Kelly, would follow me everywhere. I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t keeping an eye on me. In an old family movie from 1978, when I was 2, she was running around me in a circle. She came really close but never touched me. I think that old dog was having the time of her life and when you looked at me so was I.

Jimmy Stewart once wrote a poem, which he read on the “Johnny Carson Show,” about his dog named Beau. The poem is a must read for anyone who has ever deeply loved a pet. Jimmy talks about all the fun times he and his wife had with Beau up until the end.

He writes in “Jimmy Stewart and His Poems,” “And now he’s dead. And there are nights when I think I feel him climb upon our bed and lie between us. And I pat his head. And there are nights when I think I feel that stare and I reach out my hand to stroke his hair, but he’s not there. Oh, how I wish that wasn’t so. I’ll always love a dog named Beau.”

I know there will come a day when I will have to say goodbye to Cordy just like Jimmy had to say farewell to Beau, but I hope that day is very far into the future. I will continue to cherish every moment I have with her. We love going for rides together. We both love to have the wind blowing through our hair and listening to George Strait being blared through the speakers of my old, worn-out Pontiac. We are like a very tame version of Thelma and Louise.

Angie Bicker is the lifestyles editor with the Clinton Herald. She has been with the Herald since 2001.