more sadness

i realize i haven't posted for a long, long time, so nobody may even read this, but i think i should make official note of this. even though i hate people, i love dogs. problem is, they don't live forever. this is an excerpt from an email my mom sent me.

I don't know if we will get a chance to connect with you in person soon, but I do have sad news for you: Chela died a week ago today. I came home from school and she didn't come out of her dog house, but we had been suspecting that she was becoming a bit hard of hearing, so I didn't think much of it, but then when I went over and looked, she was stretched out as if she were having a nap, with her head on her dog dish (she's always rested with her head on uncomfortable things), but clearly she had died several hours before. I like to think that her heart just kind of gave out and she died peacefully, since she didn't look as if she had been struggling. Dad buried her behind the garage. It's really strange to have her gone.

so even though i haven't lived with chela for years, i'm sitting here at the library as close to crying as i've been since mrs. blickley thought it was my birthday. man, i really loved that dog.