In 1999 I lived full time in Los Angeles ,and my neighbor, an animal loving Irishman named Declan, brought home a little creature that looked like she was on deaths door! Someone had hung her from a freeway overpass in South Central LA by a wire and slaughtered all of her puppies and had strewn them along the freeway. They were certain this was gang related initiation activity because it was so horrific. The dog that was placed on my doorstep had mange, worms, no hair on her neck from where the wire had nearly cut through her neck and she was very, very aggressive as you can imagine. Declan said he would probably have to put her down because no one would adopt such an aggressive dog in such bad shape. I asked if I could keep her for an afternoon. When David came home from work that day the little dog charged at him growling, snapping and peeing all over the floor! David looked up at me and said.. ABSOLUTELY NOT!, WE ARE NOT KEEPING THAT DOG! I looked at him and said, if you let me keep her you can name her The man must have loved me, because he agreed and gave the little feisty mongrel the name, Crash Bandicoot, who we often call just...COOT! For 15 years this dog has been by my side. Always underfoot, always watching out for me. She was there when I got my first acting gig in LA, she was there when I lived alone in an apartment for the first time in LA. She was there on our honeymoon and traveled across the country with Dave and I numerous times. She was snuggled up to me as I watched the twin towers go down from my TV in LA at 6 :30 AM. She was there when I would babysit little Jack BOnde. She has was there when I got married. She was there when we moved back to Iowa. She was there when we divorced. She was there when I was lonely. She was there when I won the lottery. She was there when I She was there when I got Cancer. She has been there for all my success and failure in life so far. She has been there when I wake and when I go to sleep at night. She has been there for 15 years and she has become a LEGEND. My friends all know who she is and they love her and hate her....as she has bitten most of them. :) In short, she has been THE MOST CONSISTENT AND STABLE part of my life for the last 15 years. SHE HAS TAKEN CARE OF ME. WATCHED OVER ME. PROTECTED ME. So, it is no wonder that as I come out of this battle with Cancer, she is so content to see that I am going to be ok and therefore she is letting go. It is with great sadness and grief that as my life feels like it is starting over, I must take my mostly companion and best friend to the vet today to let her go home. I cannot explain the depth of my sadness right now. So- today I am thankful for 15 years with Crash Bandicoot, the best dog a girl could have. She is the toughest little dog you will ever know and she taught me well. She taught me resilience, perserverance and she taught me that when life bites you.....get up....start barking and BITE BACK!! If you know, or met or have been bitten by Crash....please tell me your story today. Remind me of your favorite memory of Coot. Anything. It will make me smile. She is looking up at me right now. She knows. She is ready, I think. She loves me. And I will always love her. For those of you who know the song.... MAMA LOVE COOT. COOT IS CUTE. WHO LOVE COOT? MAMA LOVE COOT! MAMA LOVE COOT. MAMA LOVE COOT.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:05:18 +0000
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