Nell
It’s never easy to say goodbye to a beloved friend, a trusted companion, a spirit who is by your side almost every day loving you unconditionally. It’s rare we have such a blessing in our lives. And so it was with my beloved Nell, lab rescue from Aspen Colorado who came to me one October day. Nellie passed 10 days ago. I couldn’t write before without becoming a blubbering mess. As our family was reflecting on her 12 years with us, making a photo roll, and uploading all our memories, we realized what an amazing life she had.
We gave her our all and she gave it back, tenfold.
Nellie-girl as I grew to call her, also Nell Belle, came to us six months after her predecessor Keka, aka Keka Beka, left us. I always believe dogs come to you for chapters in your life. They bookend periods where they are meant to be by our side. My dogs always have funny stories about how they came my way. I wrote about it in my book. Keka was with us during our family prime time years. My boys were 5 and 8 when we adopted her and she left when they were 15 and 18. Nell was here for the next 12 years as my boys reached adulthood and became the men they are today. If Keka, my 95 lb Rottie, was the working girl, with me during my solid ‘work years’ serious and always in need of a job., Nell was alongside me reminding me to lighten up and make sure I didn’t take work too seriously. I think of her as alongside me for the fun years and boy did she have fun.
On a whim, my girlfriend and I decided to fly to Aspen for our annual galpal getaway. The world was falling apart. It was in October 2008. The local shelter advertised pups in the paper. I saw Peggy and decided to go meet her. Peggy was adopted but I scanned the board and there I found my girl. How ironic she book-ended two major recessions.
I learned Nellie had flown by private jet at the age of 4 months, a rescue from Hillsboro TX, one of the poorest places in the states. When I took one look at her and saw her warm brown eyes it was as if Keka was staring back at me having pulled an “Aunt Clara moment on Bewitched’ wishing herself back to Hillsborough, CA, and waking up realizing she was in the wrong place. “No not THAT Hillsborough?!!”
And that started her lovely life. From death row to private jet. When I adopted her the shelter immediately promoted her to doggy daycare, giving me a few days to fly back to get her. And two days later United Airlines let my husband and I turn in our points to fly from SF to DIA, DIA to Aspen, Aspen to DIA and DIA back to SF all in one day to be home in time for dinner at that same girlfriend’s house. That girl was meant to be.
And from that second plane trip, she went everywhere with me. Except when I traveled, she was pretty much in constant tow. She went to work, went to all-hands meetings, and met with clients. She went to our homes in Mendocino and Angels Camp and in her last days, Carmel. She’d go shopping with me and my girlfriends to every store you can imagine. She’s witnessed dressing rooms, friends buying jewelry, and me designing pieces as day after day I’d go to Patronik Designs and work on my pieces.
She’d be alongside us in restaurants and the boys would take her everywhere: Friends’ homes, to the snow, hiking, fishing, swimming in the lake. She stayed in five-star resorts and local inns, and she’d camp. She’d come in for coffee every morning sitting alongside our bed while G and I started our day. She’d sit in the dining room peeking into the kitchen while we cooked. She’d lay back from the table watching us eat, waiting patiently for her turn. And then she’d lay in her certain spot waiting for me to shower, and watching me get dressed, putting on make-up and jewelry to start my day.
She had two ACL surgeries; she ate a try full of pot cookies. She’d sit with us while we had cocktails but usually always wanting to find a hiding spot not too keen on that evening routine. She was with us in Santa Barbara when the agency told us we could adopt Benson and was with us when we met him and brought him home. She did just about everything. I joked with my girlfriend that we prepared her for being human.
Keka and Nellie were opposites in every way. I have always felt they were one spirit that tried on two very different lives to understand fully what it was like to be human. Keka experienced discrimination and racial profiling. In the era of Diane Whipple, her breed was not ok. People would cross the street when we walked by, terrified of her very looks. She too had two ACL surgeries but lost her social skills through that experience. She wasn’t able to go to the office or all around town. She was our steadfast companion at home but led a more secluded life. One had to have months of obedience training. It was after all a responsibility to bring home a Rottie when you have little ones and friends over. Nell, I trained myself, never a class did she have to enter.
But what they had in common: those deep brown expressive eyes and their unconditional love and loyalty.
When I brought Nellie home the woman who boards our dogs and another close friend took one look at her and said she’s back. They felt it immediately and didn’t hesitate to voice it. I knew it too by virtue of how I found her ‘trying to get home’ and landing in the wrong Hillsborough. That girl.
Last August, an astrologer said I was ending a 20-year astrological cycle on the winter solstice of 2019. Keka and Nellie were with me for a 22-year run, alongside me for that cycle, and with their job now done it was time to leave. I said to my girlfriend, I know she’s going to pull an Enzo. Remember in the movie the Art of Racing in the Rain when the owner meets a young boy that loved racing called Enzo 8 years after his beloved retriever by the same name died?
“He died that day because his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn…..”
And so my Nellie girl fulfilled her purpose. Learned what she needed to learn. Came here to do what needed to be done. She graced my side for what I now believe is 22 years and I fully expect there will be a day when I’ll run into a little girl named Nell and I’ll know in my heart it is her.
Boy, do I miss her. It’s time for her to be on to her next adventure. I like to think of happy memories rather than what’s no longer. We taught her everything she needed to know. God speed Nell Belle. We love you Nellie girl.