Carla's Lily Vanilly

Dumb name, huh? I wanted to just name her Lily but apparently I had to give her a schmancy AKC name.

She chose me. I have never seen anything cuter than the herd of Labrador puppies that met us at the gate. All boys. The two girls I was to choose from were inside, all washed and fluffed. First, I picked up her sister. She was loveable. Cute. Bigger. Then I picked Lily up, and she immediately snuggled up to my chin and started licking. She was the runt of her litter (which she quickly outgrew!) but that was that. She had chosen me.

As a puppy, her immense cuteness saved her many times. Bibles, complete works of Shakespeare (we said she had a Taste for Literature), Tivas, the infamous $1000 work CD... destroyed. There was the time she got her head stuck in her feeder while we were out, she just haaaad to get that last nugget.

I got her when I didn't have a baby, and thought I might never. Cycle after disappointing cycle, she knew when I was sad. I could cry into her soft fur and she was so content, even proud, to let me.

Craig worked from home and he told me that every single day at 5:15, she would go watch out the front window, knowing I'd be home at 5:30. She needed to be ready. I'd come in the door and she'd run up the stairs in front of me, hop onto our bed and flop over, ready for her belly rubs and attention.

That changed after Ainslie arrived, and it was so unfair to my sweet doggie. One day she was IT, and the next, she was our dog.

Still. The reduction in the amount of attention did nothing to reduce her loyalty. I was undeserving.

She was great with Ainslie. My two blonde girls. Rolling over each other, hugging each other. Lily loved listening to stories. When I'd read to Ainslie, Lily would come in and lay down and I swear, she was listening.

The diabetes diagnosis two years ago was bad, but not deadly. She took her shots like a champ, and even though her cataracts got bigger, nothing stopped her. The Addison's disease though, was a different story. She hasn't been herself since fall. I kept waiting for a Sign. Loss of appetite, something. Finally, she helped me help her.

Goodbye, Best Dog Ever, my Lily Lou.

January 14, 2002-March 19, 2008