A Life Well Lived

This has been a very difficult week for me. Two weeks into the year of the rat and I am faced with with a tremendous loss. On Monday, February 25, 2008 at thirty minutes past noon, Sophie - Bouvier Extraordinaire, passed away. She died like she lived, furiously and unexpectedly.

If you have read my past blog entries, you will be familiar with Sophie and her ferocious zeal for life. I feel the loss of a friendship that took me far too long to completely appreciate. Just a couple days prior to her death Sophie unearthed a huge bone and brought it home with her from her daily outing. She was quite proud of her discovery as was evidenced by the extra jaunt in her step as she carried it. Of course the bone in her mouth did not preclude her from trying to chase the rabbits that she encountered on her way. The remnants of the bone still sit outside the back door.

The day before Sophie died started like any other day. Sophie stole food, she teased the cats, she exhibited all the traits that made her Sophie. Nothing was amiss until evening, after Sophie finished her final meal. It was time for her walk but Sophie would not get up. She didn’t complain, Sophie rarely complained about anything, she just would not stand up. I finally did get her to stand, she did whimper a little bit at that point, and immediately took her to the emergency veterinary hospital.

Sophie is infamous for eating garbage and other disgusting and inappropriate things. So of course the standard assumption at this point is that something she ate was aggressively disagreeing with her iron constitution. One x-ray later proved otherwise. There was a mass in her abdomen. The ultrasound the next morning confirmed a tumour on her spleen. It was big and inoperable. Sophie was gone shortly after noon.

Despite only living eight years, Sophie’s life was full and adventurous. She enjoyed herself no matter what she was doing, and unbeknownst to me, sometimes while in significant pain. It will probably take me a while to fully deal with my loss. There was no time to prepare and no time to say goodbye. One moment she appeared completely healthy, the next moment she is dead. Her life and subsequent death have given me a lot to contemplate - not just the fragility of life, but the importance of a life well lived.

May our lives be filled with rabbits to chase and discoveries to be made. May we find treasure in our garbage and may we live each day as if it were our last. Goodbye Sophie, I miss you.

"I talk to him when I'm lonesome like,
and I'm sure he understands.
When he looks at me so attentively,
and gently licks my hands;
Then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes,
but I never say naught thereat,
For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes,
but never a friend like that!"
- W. Dayton Wedgefarth