Goodbye My Friend

Prissy, my 15 year old Cocker Spaniel died this afternoon. She was such a sweet little friend to me. I thanked God today for letting me have her for so long. She was the best dog! And all those that knew her would say the same. Because I don't have all of our pictures here with me, I scrounged up all I could to be representative. I'd like to honor her memory here and all that she meant to me. So, indulge me while I take you through almost 16 years of memories.

This is one of the first pictures I have of her. She was 2 months old when I got her and so little she fit in one hand. This picture was taken at Mother's house and she was probably 6 months old or so. The dog in the foreground was Gator, my brothers dog, and the first Prissy's puppy! Those of you that have known me for long enough will remember the first Prissy. I guess I was never too inventive when it came to naming pets :-)

This was Prissy at Mother's again, before she was ever groomed for the first time. She must have been 2 years old or so. But her hair was starting to get long and unkempt looking. Only my sister would appreciate the story when I had Prissy groomed for the first time. She had gotten much furrier than this picture...I mean like down to the ground. The groomer did a standard "Cocker-groom", but I was so shocked when we picked her up I sat down and cried. Pam and I laugh at the memory now, but at the time it was so traumatic! She looked so different I thought they were giving me a different dog.

Andrew and I have always had a running joke about Prissy being the "step-dog". She was given to me by an ex-boyfriend for my birthday in 1993. Andrew grew up with lots of pets out in the country. But they were outside pets and/or ones that you used to hunt with. So this dainty Cocker Spaniel named "Prissy" wasn't exactly his cup of tea! I'll never forget on one of our first dates, him asking me "So, how long do Cocker Spaniels live?" I got the message.

I always told him he secretly loved her. This picture is my proof. It was taken in my townhouse in Florida while we were still dating.

This is Prissy by the fence we had just put up at our first house (as a married couple) in Columbus, MS. It was a base house and we were responsible for putting up our own fence. We were situated on a perfect lot on base. The house backed up to an open grassy area and bordered by woods. We regularly saw lots of rabbits and armadillo that Prissy loved to bark at. She was the protector of the yard.

This was a great memory. The above picture was taken at Mitch and Mark's house in Phoenix. The guys had just started F16 training and we were waiting for our base house to open up, so Mark and Mitch graciously let us live with them for a few weeks. The house was in a beautiful neighborhood around a few man-made lakes that were stocked. The guys, needless-to-say were fishing every afternoon. Prissy's favorite spot was right there at the edge of the grass, just waiting for one of them to catch a fish. She would bark and raise-all-kinds-of-sand when she saw the fish. The guys would always let her smell and sometimes lick the fish before they threw it back.

I always loved this shot of Prissy! She looks so sweet...picture of the perfect Cocker Spaniel. This was in the kitchen of our house at Luke AFB.

Prissy in our back yard at Luke AFB. This was the only house we've lived in that we didn't have a fence. We were only there for 10 months and didn't feel the expense was worth it. So Andrew rigged up a cable...I mean 75 foot of cable on a cork-screw stake in the middle of the yard. She got around pretty well with it. The back yard was huge and backed up to the perimeter fence of the base with only a mountain view beyond. It was Andrew's entertainment to watch her tear after a bird in the yard only to reach the end of the cable and go flying, landing usually on her back, rung around the neck. Never stopped her from chasing those birds. That's when you'd hear Andrew's famous saying "Yeah, little Einstein". What she lacked in brains, she made-up in cuteness and lovability!

Our family Christmas picture at our house in South Carolina. We all loved this house. The first house we bought and really got to make our own. We had a huge back yard for Prissy. Andrew's Dad and sister Amy came to help us put the fence up. Andrew even crafted wooden gates for it, that he designed.

Andrew was deployed to Northern Watch flying over Iraq in 2002, right before the war started. Prissy was my company and bed partner! Before Andrew and I were married, she slept just like this every night with me. I always said, she had no idea she was a dog...laying there on her side of the bed with her head on the pillow! She took her spot back from Andrew in a flash for those 3 months.

Ahhh, more proof...he really did love her. This was Christmas in Florida 2003.

Prissy in our back yard in South Carolina.

This was her usual spot on her bed in our kitchen in South Carolina. She had more personalized beds than any dog I ever knew. That was my way of appeasing her when she got kicked out of the real bed!

I love this shot of her in the foyer of our house in Phoenix. It was so hot there, she loved this spot because she could lay on the cool tile and watch every move I made...or sleep!

I love Christmas and usually put up at least 2 trees. This was our patriotic tree in the office in Phoenix. As you can see it is right by Prissy's bed. In later years she would crawl under the tree and lay on the tree skirt so much, I just made the tree skirt into another bed for her. She loved it!

Prissy with the toy drill that Andrew's mother gave her. She was past the point of chewing on things like that...not like when she was a puppy and chewed the heels off 3 pairs of my roommate Julie's high-heel-shoes...she still loved to lay with the drill.

Prissy is laying on yet another bed that I made for her. This was last year in Florida when Andrew was over seas and I was very early pregnant and had lots of time on my hands :-)

Prissy's first little clothes at age 14. OK, I'm not one who thinks that dogs should wear clothes and Andrew still makes fun of me for this. What can I say...I was pregnant and obviously nesting and wanted to dress someone up...Prissy was agreeable! One is a FSU jersey and the pink one had "angel" in rhinestones on it! Funny but cute :-)

This was right after M&M came home from the hospital, as you can see Michael is in his namesakes arms. Andrew is trying to get Ryals and Pryce, Amy's boys, to touch Prissy. And they did! This was no small miracle since every other time they'd seen Prissy they both would burst into frightful tears. I was very proud of them...big boys!

Prissy with M&M this past 4th of July. They are going to miss her so much. Especially Mary Ellen, who would squeal with delight every time she saw her. She would try everything she could to get Prissy to notice her, including screaming at the top of her lungs. Poor baby...Prissy has been deaf as a doornail for the past 4 years!

These last shots were taken yesterday. M&M's Aunt Amy sent them these cute camo outfits so I wanted to get some pictures. These are precious pictures to me. I'm just sorry that M&M won't be able to grow up with Prissy. She would have been so much fun for them.

I love you my sweet little friend and won't ever have a pet that will equal what you've meant to me over the years. What a selfless gift pets give us. No matter what you look like, what kind of day you had, what sadness you're bearing, they are there to just love you unconditionally. I'll miss you baby girl!