August 31, 2008

Billy Pot Pie
Eh. I usually don't put personal stuff on here. This site has always been a fun way to keep my friends abreast of the fun things we're doing while overseas in Japan. But almost two weeks ago, our dog Billy died suddenly from organ failure, presumably due to complications resulting from undiagnosed diabetes. We adopted her back in 2003 from a shelter in Spain after she was rescued from an air strip, full of heartworms, suffering from a hernia and some flesh wounds. She bounced from home to home until we picked her up.
Her death was especially tough becuase I didn't completely understand what was happening. With Matt sailing around the world and the Vet speaking broken English, I was robotic and perhaps naiive, under the impression that I'd be picking up Billy a few days later after she was nourished through an IV. That's one of the things about living overseas, our Vet clinic is only Mon-Fri until 4:30pm. I had no choice but to go to somebody that I didn't know and whom didn't speak the best English. I'm not a faithful nor trusting person but I had no choice but to hand my baby over to this guy and hope that him and his staff were competent. I have to believe that they were.
In the end, our friends the Takahashis were the best. They organized Billy's Buddhist ceremony and picked me up the day after she passed. It was an amazing cultural experience in itself but more importantly, helped me quickly start to start to heal. I love them. Thank you guys:)

Before I go back to blogging about food, drink and other stuff, I had first to mention why I've been away for awhile and also just to share how special Billy was to us. There are dogs and then there are "dogs." I'd like to give a shout out to the only dog we knew who could fly; to the dog who never barked; the dog who hated to wear a sweater but loved the snow; and to to the dog who didn't ask for more than a bowl of food and a daily belly scratch--thank you.


Billy Doing What She Does Best...Relaxing

Billy, Luci and A (My Sister) in March


Billy Van Vicious
? - August 18, 2008