April 21, 2007
Hi, I'm Onyx, but you can call me Onry. Everyone does. Do you have a moment for a story? I hope so, because I'm in the mood to talk. When I was 14, I had more bad luck than any Pug has a right to. I was bone thin, grey haired, had a ruptured eye, a horrid cough, and had been "used up" as a breeding pug my whole life. I made my owner "good money" and he loved to brag about that. Even after all that money, he moved away and left me behind along with my friend Poodle and the cats to fend for ourselves. We ate out of ditches and trashcans for months. I remember surviving on bugs and grass. There were some very cold days when we only had twigs to fill our bellies. On one foraging trip, Poodle was hit and killed by a car. I think she had decided she'd had enough. I was almost blind and now I was alone in the world. But I wasn't ready to quit. Not just yet.
It was a chilly morning in the ditch. I had decided not to get up that day. What was the point? Besides, I was having this wonderful dream about a warm bed and a delicious, meaty bone. I heard a truck door slam and a few seconds later, hands scooped me up. They lifted me so high. I don't think my feet have touched the ground since that moment.
That was the day my luck changed. The rescue man found a home for me with a new family that has a reputation for adopting older, handicapped pugs. I weighed under 8 lbs and they didn't know it yet, but I was heartworm positive to boot. My new vet didn't believe I would survive a heartworm treatment or surgery for my eye. But my new family had other thoughts about such things. They bought me a fancy E collar and began to fatten me up. I decided then and there I had a job to do – take care of this family. I couldn't give them puppies, or make them barrels of money like my old breeder, so I became Onyx The Defender.
I was always close, always protective, always alpha even when the big Lab and the Border Collie came around. It was my job to protect this family and I feared nothing. Three months and 8 lbs later, they started me on heartworm treatment. Now, I won't kid you, it was rough. But I never needed confinement -- there was always a warm lap for me in my home. It took two courses of treatment to get a clean test, and I was left with irreversible heart and lung damage. But I was heartworm free. Two months later, they removed my bad eye. I didn't miss it. Besides, I haven't really given a thought to my looks since I was 12.
In March 2006, they took off my fancy E collar, at last, and outfitted me with some shiny prescription doggles to help me see with my one eye. I bet you thought I wore these as a fashion statement, didn't you? That was the same day my family decided I wasn't just Onyx anymore. They added the name, Onry, even though I always answer to: "Where's our baby?"
Today, I am well-rounded, sassy, and queen of the universe. Did I mention my untold wealth? Oh yes – I have a bed ramp, dog beds, and couches scattered throughout the house. I even have my own dog named Bird. Bird is a 16-year-old, 94-lb female NewFoundland. When I'm in trouble, Bird lumbers over so that the Mom cannot see me.
My mom says I have changed my family's world. I'm 16 and my family sometimes talks quietly (they think I can't hear!) about the day they will have to tell me goodbye. Well I've got news for them. I'm not going anywhere, fast. In a long line of rescues, I've decided I will always be their queen bee.
Saturday 21 April 2007 Darbi and Onry
Today my family buried Darbi, their 8 year old Great Niece. Darbi died suddenly in an accident at home on Monday.
Tonite my family buried me. I died suddenly at home too.
Momma told the teenager and the grandson that God wanted Darbi to have a real good dog all her own. My time was nearly up, so I applied to keep Darbi company and love and play with her until the rest of our family arrives.
Everyone has been crying all week and trying to explain the death of a child. When I fell and died in momma's arms, the crying started all over again. But with my last breaths, I infused mommas, poppas, the teenager and the grandsons inhales with a bit of my soul. I gave them patience, love, appreciation of now, appreciation of each other, and a small bit more understanding of the cycle of life.
I have been one of the great loves of momma & poppa's lives. They held and stroked me long after I was gone, whispering the things they told me every day. "You are our sweet baby", "You're the Beauty Girl", "Onry, We Love You". They all told me to play with Darbi and love her the way I loved them.
The grandson asked da momma to name one of Sapphire and Bandit's pups Onyx, but momma said, "No baby, if we did that a new face would replace Onry's in our mind and we want to remember her forever".
The teenager dug a grave for my old body, da poppa turned the car around so the boy had the headlights to see by. He filled the grave with his warm salty tears. Momma was still holding my used up body, rubbing my silky ears and telling me how good the last 5 1/2 years had been. She held me until her knees went numb. Then da poppa gently took dat old body and laid it on a towel and sat on the floor with the grandson. Both were petting me and covering me with salt. They too told me to play with Darbi, to run again, to see again, to live with Darbi and God. Momma & Poppa went to check the grave and bring the teenager in for a last goodby. They left my body with the grandson. When they returned, they saw the grandson laying with what was left of me, giving me his last sweet kisses. Momma asked da teenager and da poppa to bury me, she wanted to stay inside wtih the grandson and not see me in the ground. Tomorrow da momma is going to pick out a new tree to mark my spot. Da grandson wants to help her pick out a pretty one.
More tears, more hugs, more love, more sorrow. Oh how well I am loved and how well I love them. da momma & da poppa say nothing will ever be the same. I know it wont, I forever changed my family and they forever changed me, I AM LOVED!
