This morning we said goodbye to our little Simone, the best-natured dog I have loved. She would have been 11 in August, but a cascade of medical problems caught up with her. This is a picture from ten years ago, when she was still a puppy, resting after a particularly good day.
Simone had a birth defect that led to neurological deterioration, and gradually was able to walk with great difficulty and precarious balance. Nevertheless she persisted, trusting me to keep her from falling, loving everyone she saw, human or canine, even when in pain and disoriented. She never in her life took out her problems on anyone. Her faith in me was absolute – no one has ever had such confidence in me. Even if I stepped on her foot or hurt her accidentally she knew I didn’t mean it.
Simone was always tough, but a peaceable pit bull. In September of last year, another dog bit down on her backside hard enough to require stitches, and her reaction was to turn around and try to greet her attacker. She was a complete nurturer. When she walked with other dogs and me in charity events like the Poplar Spring Run for the Animals or the Fairfax County 5k K-9 Krawl (her favorite things in the world!) she always looked out for the other dogs, doubling back down the column to encourage stragglers.
In the summer of 2014, she was temporarily paralyzed by a spinal injury. Watching her huddled in pain then, I thought we were losing her, and I have been keenly aware that every day in the 3 years since has been a gift. But really, every day before that was a gift as well. She has taught me so much about pit bulls, about relationships across the species barrier, about patience, about love, about real courage in adversity.
This little being has been for 11 years the daughter of my heart. I do not believe there is a rainbow bridge where we will meet again. But we got to meet here, on this good green earth, and I will always have her inside me. While I do not totally share her unquestioned faith that everyone would be kind and loving, it is a good principle to live by, and the world would be a better place if we lived up to it.
Goodbye my little love.
Everyone should be so lucky to have had a buddy like that.