Farewell to Belle

 

We said goodbye to Bella-dog on the last day of April.

She was fifteen, perhaps sixteen, give or take. A long, long life for a Labrador retriever, at any rate, and a good one. I knew Bella only in her latter years, but she has been part of Maya's world always, and Nick's companion and sidekick since he was in high school.

She traveled with him from Wisconsin to Maine to Kansas and finally to Michigan. She accompanied him to work regularly when he started the tree service, riding beside him in the truck and overseeing operations throughout the day.

She was a good sport about acquiring an exuberant, if somewhat unpredictable, canine sibling when Nick and I created our "blended family." Or at least resigned to the new reality.

She and Maisie mostly coexisted by ignoring each other, but we did catch them appearing to enjoy each other's company now and then.

She had many good adventures through the seasons.

After she "retired" from Carlson Tree Service, she became a regular on my morning walk with Maisie, followed by long days of sleeping here at the homestead.

She stood up for us at our wedding.

And, wouldn't you know, just as she was settling into a comfortable routine in her old age, she found herself called upon to help raise a baby.

Bella, always nearby and rarely inclined to get up and move, was Maya's favorite thing to reach for when she learned to sit up alone.

As Maya became more mobile, Bella was still there, tolerating whatever this small human dished out.

 

She continued to join us on our morning walks all last year.

As Maya got more capable, they became companions.

 

 

She finally slowed down (as Maya got faster and faster), and by this past winter a walk down the block and back was all she could manage. Finally, this spring, the day came when her body was ready for its final rest.

We held a burial. Maya picked daffodils, and she and Maisie watched as Nick and I dug a hole in a beautiful glen under a massive old hemlock.

The ritual was good closure for all of us. Maya will tell you, "Bella in hole. Old and tired." We feel sure she would have kept up a constant refrain of "Bella go?" if she hadn't seen her laid to rest. We all gave those silky-soft ears a final stroke, and we all said goodbye as we filled the hole with earth.

We assured Maya that only Bella's body is in the hole (a "cozy bed," Maya called it), and that her spirit went up into the sky, all around us, into all of us who remember her. "In Papa. In Mama. In Maya. In Way-zee," she agreed.

Indeed. Goodbye, Bella. Your spirit will be with us still, trotting along with your propeller-tail circling on walks, accompanying us eagerly to the car whenever there's a ride to be had, enthusiastically snarfing at all morsels of food that drop near you, and snoozing away by the fireside.