Sunday, February 16, 2014

Godspeed, Mariah 2-15-14

 


Yesterday we lost one of the cornerstones of our house, Miss Mariah.  She lived life with total bully flair, throwing her 23 pounds around and keeping everyone in line.  Ever wonder why they call mean kids on the playgrounds bullies?  Try living with one - lol.  And it is because of her sassiness, we would not have traded her for the world.


Years ago, Mariah had a difficult surgery and almost didn't survive it.  This resulted in the progression of health issues which were eventually diagnosed as auto-immune issues.  At the height of her illness, she had lost big patches of fur, and her body had pustules all over it.  All in all, she was attended to by 7 vets, one of which admitted that he eventually had to put down his own dog who had dealt with the same thing.  So we knew we were in for a real challenge, but on our journey, we found Dr. Susan Rogers Swaney and she turned the tide.  We literally dealt with this for years, and were so happy to see her finally looking so good.  In the end, she had fur all over her body again, except for a patch on the back that was in the final stages of getting ready for fur to grow. 

On our vacation to Maine

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, we somehow picked up the mystery illness that is going around this region of the US.  Three of our adults became ill, but two recovered quickly.  Mariah, however, wasn't so lucky.  It hit her hard and heavy.  We had a lot at out disposal - iv fluids, anti-nausea, anti-biotics, colloidal silver, Waiora NCD and Agarigold, and Parvaid.  But her body just was too weak to battle the virus. 

Spiritual:  There was something good that came out of her final days, though.  We were together 24/7 and had lots of good talks.  She became melancholy at one stage, and we worked through the questions/issues that she brought up.  In conversing with one of my very talented friends, Julie picked up on more.  She said that Mariah's issues extended well beyond this lifetime.  Mariah had lived a life as a puppy mill dog and had problems with puppies there, as well.  I would highly recommend Julie Snouffer for consulting and her fees are very reasonable.  And I am forever thankful for that information because it really opened up the door for total healing for Mariah.

Armed with this information, I talked to Mariah about that lifetime.  The word "useless" kept flashing like a neon sign while we were talking about her life then.  Not only did she not produce a living litter of puppies, but once she showed the slightest medical problem, she was "thrown away."  She didn't specifically say that she was killed, but that was the impression I was left with.  I promised her she would never be thrown away by me.  At that point, I still had hopes she could pull through. 


In this lifetime, she was purchased as a foundation bitch for a line of frenchies.  But we were unsuccessful in that venture.  And the health issues she experienced would have sent most people running and screaming (not that I didn't do my fair share of crying, feeling helpless from time to time).  From the outside, considering the purpose she was bought for, she was "useless."  But never, ever did that thought enter our minds.  She was valued for her personality, and for all that she added to our pack.  I am so happy to have known her and lived a life with her.  And in the pure experience of living our lives together, with her conditions pushing the bounds of what most people would be willing or capable of handling, we found our healing.  She was valued and treasured, and she was not thrown away.  And she passed knowing that she is loved, and to a great extent, it nullified the negative experience of the other lifetime.  Julie also helped me with some processes to clean up her energy, to finish the healing process, and clear the way so that Mariah doesn't have to carry this with her into any other lifetimes.

As it became apparent that she was not going to make it, we discussed whether or not she had any preferences for what happened to her body after her passing.  She had enough of the chills with this harsh winter and this illness, so the thought of being in the cold, hard ground was too much for her, even though she wouldn't be in that body.  So we settled on cremation.  Around this time, my friend Rosemary became aware of Mariah's situation and she sent tons of healing Mariah's way and the effect was noticeable.  What a relief to have the contributions of healers everywhere helping her on her journey.



Turns out that Littleton & Rue Funeral Home does pet cremations, and will even come to pick them up under certain circumstances.  Within a couple of hours of her passing, the funeral home sent out a black limousine hearse to pick her up.  A man in a black suit and a beautiful black wool coat drove it and took very good care of her.  I'll give her that - girlfriend sure did go out in style!  I hope she was still looking down so she could enjoy the moment. 

The heart still hurts, and her absence is vividly felt, but I am also immensely grateful for the intimate conversations and understandings that we had at the end.  It is a true blessing when you get the answers to some of the "why" questions in life.  I wish Miss Mariah a wonderful, perfect, loving, and healthy life next time around.  She deserves it!


The thing I'll miss the most are those ears of hers.  They were like antennae.  You'd see them peep up over the edge of the sofa, around furniture, around doorways, and only if the ears thought it was worth the effort would you see the rest of her.  Cracked me up every time.

For Tony, she was his boxing buddy.  Whenever he started to play with any dog, she was front and center, taking on the fight, boxing and barking.  And if he'd pretend to shoot her and say bang, she'd throw herself down on her back (as long as she was on the soft sofa).  They both LOVED that game.