Maddie Madeline

Thanksgiving Day 2019

You chose us January 11, 2011. From the moment I saw you I knew you were ours. You came free. Although Dad would argue you weren’t free with the added fencing we put in the backyard and new vet bill.

Even though we labored to keep you in the backyard when you went outside, your free spirit always found a way to escape. You would run like a deer and we would call your name in hopes to stop you from getting out. You would stop and lock eyes with us for a brief second, and then you would BOLT.

That look was stubborn. 

That look was determined. 

But that look was also like a promise. 

You knew you were ours and you knew you would come back. After a half hour, or sometimes a few worried hours on our part, of freedom and frolicking and exploring, you would always come back. If we had to leave you out, we would come home to find you in the front yard, like you were securing the premises. I compared you to Hank the Cowdog because you acted like you were the Head of Ranch Security. And Ranch Security included our property, the cow field next door, the neighbors’ chicken coop, and Spring Creek Park.

You were a survivor. We thought we lost you more than once. You got hit by a car (actually you ran right into a moving car), bit by a coral snake (as you slung it around by your mouth), and we sure disappointed one young couple that had loaded you up into their jeep until we stopped to ask if they had seen you. 

You were ours. 

One stormy night around 3am, we got a call from the gas station on Hwy 249 more than a mile away. Somehow you had gotten that far during a heavy thunderstorm. I don’t even know how you were gone. But you were ours. And God made sure you came back home that night, shaking, wet and cold in my car at 3am. 

I think we wanted to believe that you would always survive and you would always come back.

I’ve had just a handful of dogs in my life but you were my favorite. You didn’t shed. You didn’t have a tail that could whack a small child off their feet. You would follow me around the house, finding a spot to curl up close by, until I left the room and you had to come with me. You endured the kids’ costumes and headbands they found for you. You gladly slept on their beds as they not so fairly took turns taking you.

You got spoiled to Pawpaw feeding you from his plate these past few months when he lived with us. With Nana and Pawpaw came Memah who was your best dog friend by far. The two of you would get on couches and dig holes in the yard and politely share your food bowls. We wondered how you would get along without each other when Memah moved, but that turned out to be just one week.

You were healthy and active and then you were not. That last night we had you, none of us had any idea. You put your chin on Katerin’s lap at the dinner table. You hung around as we decorated the Christmas tree. You were laying under the table while we played cards above you. You jumped up when Saimon called upon you to scare the cats back to the back. You had learned to behave with the cats. You were a good dog.

Our last night with you

We miss you, Maddie. Finding pictures of you on my phone and seeing all the videos and pics Katerin and Wesley are posting bring tears. We had no idea you would go so quickly. But I’m thankful. I’m thankful that you were ours from January 11, 2011 to November 30, 2019. I’m thankful we did not have to watch you suffer long. I’m thankful all the kids were home and got to tell you goodbye. I’m thankful we were with you when your heart stopped beating….that you felt our love to the end.

Dad said it best when he wrote on your burial box, “Thank you for choosing us!” You will always be missed. I am reminded every time the door is left open and I want to hurry to close it before you get out. But you are no longer to escape. Emily said you have made "your greatest escape."

We will love you forever, Maddie Madeline!