Bailey’s Last Meal

Bailey sometimes visits me in my dreams, but this morning I dreamt a vivid memory that we shared. I lived this moment all over again in my sleep. It was just as real as when it happened.

A friend recently lost her dog and has been blogging about it. That led to a conversation with another friend about losing my own dog.  A few days ago I told this friend about the last morning I spent with Bailey. Her last morning was planned. The vet was coming to the house around noon to take her from me. Literally. I spoke of our morning together, but I left something out. I left out what my mind recalled in my dream.

The first thing I did when I woke up on our last morning together was go into the kitchen and put a steak in the frying pan. She didn’t hear me get up. At the age of 15, most of her hearing was gone and sleeping soundly was a blessing during her last days. When the steak was cooked and cooled, I cut it into bite sized pieces, then I went in to wake her up. I very gently put my hand on her side and slowly began to caress her. She startled easy with the loss of her senses and I didn’t want to scare her. She opened her eyes and tilted her head up toward me. Then she began to sniff the air. The steak. “Yes old girl, that steak is for you,” I whispered to her. I helped her up and took her first to the backyard for a pee, and then we went into the kitchen, where I settled her onto the area rug and fed her the steak, by hand, one piece at a time.

This morning’s dream was as if she was saying, you left out the best part.