Happy Friday

 

An old notebook I bought in Syria in the mid to late 1970s, before 1978 (the President of Syria was then Hafez Al-Assad)

 

Bailey

On December 11, 2024 (a Thursday), my Bailey passed away exactly at noon. She loved me so much and I loved her more. She was loving in her own aggressive way. She howled at other dogs, I think she wanted to play with them, but I kept her safe away from them as I was not sure if she was going to hurt them. We went to the park across the street from our house and walked there. She loved walking, but at the last few months of her life she began to lay on the ground every once a while. She would roll over the grass. She loved that, and I smiled at her, telling her how silly she was. Bailey died from cancer. She began exhibiting illness signs a few months before she died. I noticed that in late August or early September of 2024. She began not to eat as much even though she loved to eat---Bailey was 96 pounds. By December, she lost almost 17-20 pounds. She drunk a lot at the end and wanted to go out in the backyard and spent time on her own near by the deck---She was never like that before. Since August, she would stop eating for a few days, became lethargic, and then suddenly she would come back to her old self, eating and howling at the other dogs passing by our house with their owners. Her best spot was on the stairs overseeing windows looking over the park. She would spent hours on that fifth step of the staring out the front door windows. Bailey favorite spot was the carpet nearby the front door of the house. She would love to sit there. One of my son who lived with us for a few years had a dog, Charley. Bailey did not go along with Charley, but with the passing days she got used to him. She used to attack him when he wanted to go upstairs. It was almost a daily ritual.  She loved to go 'tesh-tesh bye bye in the car.' She and I used to go around the town. She would look out the car's window and howl at other passing dogs. She loved that. Bailey ate a lot of people's food. She loved rotisserie chicken, chicken in cans, rice with hamburger, spaghetti. She loved her bone treats too. I bought for her many kinds from the stores. I used to leave those at the corner of her bed before I left to work. I miss her so much...it hurts. When she got sick, I took her to the vet. We had to give her pills to calm her down before we went there. They told us she had UTI and hypothyroidism. She would not take the medicine, and gave us, me and my wife, hard time giving her the pills. We tried everything from crushing them and adding them to her food (which she would not eat due to illness), mixing them in water or chicken broth and squirting the liquid in her mouth with a syringe, or even adding them to her water. We failed more than 70% of the time in getting the medications in her. But, she really had cancer, and the vet we took her to did not diagnose her correctly. The last few days, I began adding some electrolytes solution I bought from the store to her water. I even bough multivitamins gummies and put one in her water to dissolve slowly, and to provide her with some nutrients. It was cold the few days she was finally really sick. But she wanted to stay outside. I would place towels on her to cover her from the cold, put her drink near her, and gave her the bones she liked the most that she did not eat. The day we decided to put her down, I took her in the car for a long 'tesh tesh.' She wanted to stay in the car until the end. When the vet arrived to help us with the final procedure, I placed a heavy blanket on her because it was cold. The vet gave the tranquilizer, and my Bailey went to sleep. At that moment, the sky above us opened up and we had downstream rain as if the sky that knew her for the past 8.5 years cried for her. I was crying so much too, and so did my two sons and my wife who helped me with her. The vet finally gave her that 'pink liquid' to escort her to heaven. Bailey was placed in the vet's car and the vet drove away. It was noon on December 11, 2024. I love you so much my Bailey. I will never forget you even if I had dementia. You will be always in my heart and mind. I miss you so much. It hurts.