At 7.42am today, our dog Summer passed away. She had been diagnosed with liver and kidney failure last week and had been in the animal hospital since. Doctors tried everything they could and blood test results were not encouraging each time. Toxin levels was 10 times higher than it was supposed to be.
Our family prayed, begged, cried, hoped, trusted for healing, stayed strong. And finally today, God took her back home. I have no answers as to why God didn’t answer our prayers the way we wanted Him to, except that, He is God and He knows what’s ahead and what’s best. We prayed, but nevertheless, it was in His hands.
Now all we’re left with are beautiful memories of all her antics, her collar which bell sounds all too familiar, her empty cage, 2 huge unopened bags of dog food, dog treats, her water and food dish, her leash, and her fetch toy. Thank God that my family took lots of pictures of her while she was alive and well, cause that’s the way I want to remember her – hyper, energetic, bubbly, giving, beautiful, and happy.
No doubt it hurts so much. In fact, I never knew my heart could ache in so many places in such magnitude. She was more than a dog, she was already part of the family, we even nicknamed her Low Sher-Mer. She was a sister. And I guess, this is a bond that only people who own and love dogs can understand.
We visited her body a while ago, it was bloated and cold. I could only bear touching her floppy ears… that was my favorite part of her body other than her eyes and snout. They were as floppy as always, just a little swollen, but they were cold. The vet will be cremating her on our behalf.
So this was it. A week ago, she was her usual self, a week later, she is gone. Life is so fragile. My dad explained that all life comes from God, He breathed life into them and they had their being, when they had served their purpose, He breathes again, and takes them home. She completed her mission perfectly; she taught us what it meant to love and be loved, how to give unselfishly, how to keep our joy, how to not whine and complain when things were tough. In fact throughout the whole of last week’s ordeal, she never once cried, whined, fussed, or complained… that was our Summer, always brave, always strong, always happy. Even in her pain, she’d always wag her tail when she saw us.
The pain and the tears we cry are because we lost a beautiful friend. We’re sad that we could not have journeyed longer with her. But God decided, and it is not final. She’s gone back to where she came from. He took her home, for a little while. I know one day when I go to Heaven I’ll see her there. There may be no theological backing for this but, it’s what I’m holding onto.
So, thank you all for your prayers, words of encouragement, concern and tears. It means a whole lot to my family. We’ll be OK. Even now, there’s peace in knowing that she is free from pain and suffering. God is still the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the great physician, the one true living God. He still is, He still is.
