Meghann gives you the skinny: The Celebration of Life

In 1995, my parents told me we were getting a puppy. I was in the fifth grade then and having never owned an animal that didn't live in a cage, I was ecstatic. To be honest, I don't know why my parents decided to do this. Neither of my parents had really shown much interest in larger animals before. My mom had always kept guinea pigs in her classroom. That seemed normal to me, mostly because they were so easy to care for. Whatever the reason, they made it and started looking into what kind of dog to get. A local vet in town was breeding standard poodles and just had a litter. My mom and I went down there to pick one out. She decided she wanted a chocolate colored one, and there were three to pick from. After playing around with each of the three, we choose ours because she was the only puppy to give us kisses.

We named her Hershey. One, because she was chocolate colored and two. because my mother has always had a bit of sweet tooth for the candy.

I remember the first night they brought her home. I thought it was neat that each puppy was sent home with their own blanket and stuffed animal. Hershey came with a Miss Piggy doll, which was also my affectionate stuffed animal as a child. We were meant to be. That night, we kept her in a kennel, as she was not house broken. I was upset, because I wanted her to sleep in my bed. She whined all night. When none of us could get any sleep, my dad put her kennel in the bathroom. The bathroom was in the center of the house and only caused the noise to get worse with echo. Eventually, my parents moved her into the garage, but none of us got a good nights sleep.

Having a puppy for the first time was hard- especially the house training bit. She went all the time! She also had a really bad habit of nipping at my ankles when I walked throughout the house and I really hated that.

But, I did love watching her grow. I remember I used to play this game where I would run from my parents bed into the livingroom and jump up on an easy chair. She wasn't big enough to jump up there with me so she would just chase me from room to room. One night, as we were playing this game, she hopped up into the chair with me. I was excited she was finally getting bigger.

Standard poodles are very smart, and we were able to teach her LOTS of fun tricks. Not only the usualy sit and shake...but she also played dead when we "shot" her with a BANG! She learned commands fast.

Hershey became an extension of our family, not just a pet.

I viewed her almost like a sister....if that makes any sense at all. In high school, she always slept in my bed with me. She would sleep on the pillow next to me with her face turned away and she let me rest my head on her hip. She was a great confidant, and always let my cry into her fur in sadness and was always ready to play during happy times.

It was hard going off to college for the first time. Living in dorms, I was never around animals. On my first visit back home as soon as I stepped into the door she bombarded me with kisses...the signature trade mark of hers- the reason we choose her in the first place.

Because we got her so early, it's hard to remember what our lives were like before her. She's been there through every holiday, celebration, and hardship.

My parents always got her groomed regularly. They liked the look of a groomed poodle, but I always preferred Hershey looking a little rough around the edges.

Sometime around 2005, Hershey's health and age caught up with her. She started to get sad that the family was no longer living there anymore and became very lazy and uninterested in playing or her other usual activities. She also developed very bad arthritis and had a hard time getting on the bed. In 2005, I moved back home for a bit and brought with me my cat Audrey.

Having a young cat in the house did a lot of good for Hershey. It made her young again. Chasing the cat around improved her spirits and her arthritis got better.

We have this weird tradition in our family called Family Hug. At the end of celebrations or family gatherings usually my dad announces FAMILY HUG and well, we all hug. Hersh was always in on the act. She would jump into the center of us and make sure to give almost every one there a kiss. (Don't mind my dad's belly there....but you can see Hershey in the middle, kinda)

Last year, Jeannette gave me Zoe when she moved. I was nervous how Hershey was going to react. Hershey was never around other dogs much and never learned how to communicate with them. Gladly, they became the best of friends- Hershey's first dog friend.

On March 12th of this year Hershey turned 14 years old. I brought her over a hamburger. She ate it, threw it all up, and ate it again. I think she liked it both times. :)

A couple weeks ago, my mom sent everyone in the family a message on facebook telling us that Hershey wasn't doing so good. She was a very old lady, and the doctors thought she had cancer. They didn't know how much time she had left, and my parents decided to let her have as much as she could have to be comfortable. Jason brought her a roastbeef sandwich and my parents cooked her rice every night.

Every Wednesday, my family gets together to watch Lost. Tonight, when I arrived my mother was acting weird, but I brushed it off, knowing she was just upset that Hershey was sick. After dinner and after the show, my parents broke the news.

Tomorrow, Hershey is being put to sleep.

Although my heart is breaking. Although I know I will never get to see her again, rub her belly, or give her kisses one more time- I know she lived the best life a dog could ever live. She wanted for nothing. She had all the toys, treats, and love any dog has ever had. She had a warm bed to sleep in every night. She was never abused, was taken for walks, and LOVED to go bye-bye.