Hello, Friends. We have been sailing in the Florida Keys for the past week. It was an adventure that our family had planned for months and a vacation that we were really looking forward to. If there is one thing that doesn’t mix, it is flat-faced dogs and sailing on hot, Florida summer days, so we decided to leave Noodles (Pug) and Lily (English Bulldog) with Grandpa Sweet Greens for the week. This way they could enjoy the week as they would prefer, snoozing in a cool house. Ha!
The week before we left, Lilly was feeling great! She napped, played with Noodles, chased the boys through the house, and even enjoyed a few rounds of her favorite game – bark at a balloon.
On Sunday morning as we were packing up the sails, getting ready to drive home – Grandpa Sweet Greens called with super sad news, Lilly had passed away. We knew that Lilly was getting old, however she was in excellent shape and health. Grandpa said that in the morning, her back legs weren’t working properly, so he carried her over to the area where her water dish. When she wouldn’t drink, he scooped a handful of water up to her mouth trying to help her. She quietly passed away in his arms. Pure sadness.
I will never forget the day that I first laid eyes on Lilly, she was sitting in a baby swimming pool at the breeders, all by herself, facing away from me. She was just out of my arms reach so I wasn’t able to reach in and pick her up, so I inched my fingers as close as I could get to her and poked her saying “Hi, Baby Bulldog.” She slowly turned her head over her shoulder to look at me, with an annoyed look on her face, she looked away and she didn’t budge. I slowly inched her towards me with my fingertips until she was in arms reach and then I picked her up. She was a chubby, wrinkly, super soft bowl full of jelly. I was immediately smitten with her, I handed her to Jayson and I could see him melt – he was hooked. We took her home with us that day.
Lilly loved to sleep in the hammock, bark at balloons, chase soccer balls, chew up tennis balls, play kill the vacuum, lick Jayson’s head, and lay in Jayson’s lap like a baby.
We will always have nothing but love, gratitude and fond memories of our Lilly dog. She was our constant companion and one of the most loyal dogs I have ever met. She would follow us wherever we went in our home, and when we left to run an errand, she would sit by the front door waiting for us to come home. She loved to lick people and if you came over to our house, chances are she licked your legs or feet as soon as you sat down! Lilly taught us that it is important to slow down, smell the flowers and take time to enjoy life.
Lilly’s passing has been extremely hard on Eben, he was only a toddler when we brought her home – they grew up together. And since Eben is an only child, losing her has had a very large impact on his life. Luckily, we have Noodles who is also a constant companion to him and her love is helping his cope. This has been a difficult time for our family, we have been spending time each day talking about all of the fun times we shared with Lilly and the wonderful ways that she touched our lives. We feel truly lucky that she was our dog, she was a lovely friend.
Lilly, we will forever love you.
In memory of Lilly Lyon.
August 12th 2004 – July 6th 2012.
