My Sweet Sophie

Three weeks ago I said goodbye to my sweet dog of 13 years.

It was one of the saddest things I have ever experienced and I have missed her every day since.

I have had Sophie since I was a junior in high school. She was with me for every high school and college heartbreak, with me through 9 moves, traveled with me back and forth from Tennessee to Indiana when Coy and I were dating, and been my companion through so many years.

She had been around longer than most of my friends. She was in my life before Coy, before any of my nieces and nephews, and had seen me through high school, college, and grad school.

 

On a Wednesday evening I returned home to find Sophie breathing fast and heavy. This had happened one or twice in the previous week but had only lasted a few minutes before she returned to breathing normally. When this had gone on for the remainder of the evening, I knew something serious had to be wrong. I spent the majority of that night up with Sophie. Although she was alert and otherwise seemed to not be in pain, she was clearly miserable. I spent the long hours of that night cuddling with her, holding her, and praying that if this was the end it would happen quickly.

The next morning, when her breathing had not let up, we took her to the vet. They took us back immediately and when I set her down on the table she did not move. Her health had greatly decreased during our 10 minute car ride to the vet's office. Upon seeing this, the nurse immediately scooped her up and took her to the back to see the vet.

It wasn't 5 minutes later that the vet came into our room and informed us that Sophie was in congestive heart failure. She was already unconscious and had been foaming at the mouth. The vet had given her some anesthesia and before he even could finish his advice to not attempt anything further due to Sophie's age I, through tears, asked him to end her suffering as soon as possible. He said that he would go get Sophie and bring her into the room with us, if she was still breathing, as he didn't know if she had already passed due to her condition.

A few short minutes later the vet and the nurse brought Sophie back into us, wrapped snuggly in a blanket.

She had already passed away.

The nurse cried with us before leaving us to say our final goodbyes.

Although it might seem strange to some that I held my dog in my arms after she had died, it was really a beautiful thing and gave both Coy and I the opportunity to say goodbye and be with her one last time.

She was cremated later that day.

It breaks my heart even now to tell that story. But as sad as it was, I am so thankful that it happened  liked it did. I am so glad that we decided to take her to the vet when we did. Because although the whole process at the vet took only around 20 minutes, Sophie was able to pass peacefully. I had prayed for a quick process and my prayer was answered. Although my prayer had always been for her to die in her sleep I am so glad it did not happen that way and that I did not have to wake up to Sophie dead in our bed.

I am so thankful for her life and companionship over the past 13 years. She was more to me

than just a pet, much more to me than just a dog.

I miss her when I sit on the couch and watch tv, miss her when I go to bed at night, miss her when we take Murphy on a walk and one of us is without a leash. There are SO many things that I miss on a daily basis. But I am glad to say that although I continue to miss her terribly, the immense sadness that I felt at her passing is slowly lessening. My tears have slowly lessened. And I am learning to focus on the life that she lived and all of the joy that she brought to me.

 

RIP sweet Sophie Dreger Schrougham

April 2000-September 2013