This week I’m going to talk about Mick. His is a shorter story, and I hope that it had a happy ending for him…it didn’t for me, I will always feel guilt when I think about Mick…
When Casey was still a baby, her dad wanted to get a young dog that she could grow up with. Just for her. I still had Spanky, who was middle-aged at that point, but she was definitely MY dog. So we went to the shelter and found Mick. He was about 40#, long-ish hair, black and brown, friendly happy face, and a constantly wagging heavily feathered tail. Just a good all-around family dog, gentle, cuddly, playful, willing, sweet, and happy.
He fit into our little family beautifully, and Casey loved him. He would play gently with her, or lay next to her crib when she napped. When she started talking, her first word was “MICK!” They were a great pair!
Casey’s dad and I built a home in the country and moved our family – including my donkey and 2 pet wethers that I’d been paying board on since I married Gary and moved into his house in Detroit – there. Mick and Spanky loved it. We had a very long – 400′ – driveway and were set well back from the road. Mick had followed Spanky’s lead and stuck around with us (especially Casey), never venturing far.
One day we were in the back yard. Casey was in her little pool, and her dad and I were sitting next to her. The dogs were laying with us. It was a hot day. Mick heard a car come into the driveway before we did, and moseyed around the corner of the house to check it out. Next we heard him screaming – he had been run over, right up next to our house, by a man selling vacuum cleaners. I yelled at him, “You just ran over my dog!” and he said, “Why are you so upset, it’s just a dog!” Gary was furious, and told the man to leave our yard before we called the police. Meanwhile Mick was laying in the driveway crying. Gary hustled him into the car, I grabbed Casey, and we got him to the vet…he had a fractured pelvis and needed to be on cage rest for 6 weeks. But being the Very Good Boy that he was, he just went with the flow…
A couple of years later Casey’s dad and I separated, then divorced. I moved into a mobile home park where I could only have one dog but I kept them both, kind of keeping an ear open for a new family for Mick. I was beyond stressed…a single mom, I had to work 2 jobs, and my grief at the death of my marriage was intense. I barely could get through day to day. I was struggling to manage it all and keep up.
One day I came home from work and there was garbage strewn throughout the house. I knew it had to be Mick, Spanky had never – and would never – do such a thing. I just cleaned it up before I went to bed exhausted like every other night. Soon it happened again…and again…and again… I was at the end of my rope. I had to do something, this was the straw that was breaking my back. Casey was about 4. I explained to her why we had to get rid of her dog, and she seemed to understand…we wrote a letter about what a wonderful dog Mick was, and took him to the local shelter. They told me they could only keep him 3 days but he was such a great dog that I hoped he would find a good home. I never called to found out, I couldn’t have stood it if it had ended badly for him…and this new grief added to everything else until I didn’t think I could go on.
A couple of weeks later I came home from work and there was garbage all over the floor again…I knew I had made a terrible mistake but it was too late. The next night I came in and was walking down the hallway to my room, and there was an opossum sitting on the dryer. AN OPOSSUM! I called a neighbor and he came over, found where it had been coming and going – evidently for quite a while, it looked like – and sealed up the area after getting it out of my home.
To this day I feel incredible grief and guilt about that. I can’t give myself grace even though the circumstances were beyond what I ever thought I could bear. Mick was one of the best dogs I’ve ever had, and Casey’s best friend… I just hope that he found a family and had the good life that he deserved. Because I certainly didn’t give it to him…
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