RIP The Great Jessiwah :(
1994-2004

Update - 2004-01-23

Well, the Great Jessiwah is no more... On Sunday October 5 2003, she was given a lethal injection of barbiturates, and passed away peacefully at my parents' house, surrounded by people she knew and loved. Almost 4 months later, it is still very hard to be without her. She was the thing that held me together, that kept me focused, that gave my life some routine. Now there is none, and I feel a little lost... I miss my little ShadowPuppy.

Update - 2003-09-16

The Jessie has developed a corneal ulcer, in addition to the fact that her eye is getting pushed further and further out by the tumor. She's getting 3 sets of eye drops every day, and doesn't see much out of that eye anymore... I sense that we are approaching the end. Nevertheless, she's loving the fall weather (the steroids she's taking for the tumor raised her body temperature, so she didn't deal well with summer at all) and still insists on many long walks every day :)

The Great Jessiwah's Illness

The Jessie has cancer. More specifically, fibrosarcoma in her upper left jaw. For a while it looked like surgery would be possible, but it turned out the tumor was too big to operate on. So we have a very limited amount of time left with her - soon she will start to go blind in her left eye, and when the tumor reaches into her nose she'll begin to lose her sense of smell.

The little beaglemonster just turned 8. That's young for her breed - they usually live to be about 16-18. But as her life gets more and more uncomfortable, it's going to be harder and harder to justify putting her through all this suffering. She's already on daily pain pills that knock her out a fair amount...

So, sometime in the next few months, we're going to have to put her to sleep. We're lucky enough to have a friend who is a veterinary technician, who not only knows and loves the Jessie, but will also do a home euthanasia.

In the meantime, I'm putting together a Jessie photo album. If you have any pics of The Great Jessiwah, please email me so we can arrange for me to get copies.

As a start, I went over to Michael Woodwards house and did a photo session with the dawgie. The results will be re-posted soon.

The Great Jessiwah's Bio

On Christmas Eve, 1994, I met a little beagle named Jessica for the first time. Much to my chagrin, she was actually a Christmas present for my sister. But ever since that day, my world has revolved around her. A little history: Christmas Eve began with me sitting across from a car dealer, negotiating the acquisition of a 1989 Toyota Corolla. My father was to meet me there and co-sign for the car. The dealer and I were chatting when I saw my father drive up with my mother in the passenger seat. This was unexpected. My father came into the dealership and told me go out and talk to my mother. Um... sure...

Out I go into the cold, and I see this brown and white and black thing lying in my mother's lap. Hrm. When I knock on the window, it raised its head, and it was love at first sight. I held her, she wagged her tail, she licked me.

Once the car was in my possession, my task for the rest of the afternoon was to keep the dog away from the house so my sister wouldn't see her. Damn the luck. I get behind the wheel with the dog in her cage in the back seat. But there was a noise coming from the cage, a pitiful wimpering, that made me unable to go on. I stopped the car, let the puppy out of the cage, and drove with her on my lap. And that is how she has ridden in my car ever since.

Over the past eight years, the Jessica has had quite a life. She has lived with my sister, with me, and with my parents. She's hunted squirrels, rabbits, and cats, as well as chapsticks, pens, sunglasses, and shoes. She has also brought home broccoli and cauliflower from some mystery neighbor's garden, and been quite proud of her kills.

Until she started living with me again in June 2002, I kidnapped her from my parents' house every Sunday and took her for adventures at local parks and dog play areas. Sometimes we went on random other adventures (carwash, recycling, buying a Christmas tree), and last year she had the honor of crossing the finish line at VentureQuest with me and the rest of Team Caffeine :)

Like any self-respecting dog-mommy, I've taken many, many pictures of Jessica. Some of them are below; click on the the thumbnail to access the full-sized image. They are in vaguely chronological order.