Dedicated to Emmy - by Howard Nelson

My dogs are part of my family.   Emmy is now 15 years old.   Her fading eye sight, limited hearing and arthritic joints have taken a toll on her.      Thanks to great veterinarians and medical care, Emmy is comfortable during these later years.    Always the social butterfly, loving people despite her early start on life where she was neglected and left to die in a swamp near Richmond, Emmy loves people.

I’ve learned a great deal about caring and forgiveness from Emmy.  

We adopted Emmy at 5 years old with heartworm and she was generally weak, tired and ill from neglect.    After a few months of terrible, just terrible heartbreaking nightmares Emmy came around and learned to relax and enjoy life.    She could find a tennis ball anywhere.  I mean anywhere.    Until her old age took over,  Emmy played fetch like a pro and put other dogs to shame.

At first an only dog,  Emmy quickly grew to love our second adoption Cali.    Best friends to this day and the most loyal to each other.   Cali watches over Emmy now.     Emmy never warmed up to our third dog Priscilla, who Emmy taught to stay away and keep her distance.   Over time Emmy has agreed to tolerate the youngster in the bunch, but that’s about it.   

Frequent visits to the vet, have kept Emmy comfortable, but her recent weight loss – for those of you who know Emmy and her appetite – is alarming at best.      My heart is in my throat as I type this blog post and words can not express how much we love her.

I don’t remember life without her and I know it’s going to be VERY difficult to say goodbye.   She is comfortable and appreciates her nightly massage and time with her parents.    I love to see her smile when I lay on the floor with her.    It’s our time together and our final time together.

I am forever grateful for the team of volunteers at Lab Rescue of Virginia who saved her life and made our life so much better for bringing Emmy into our home and family.