Harley, a brittany spaniel has been with our family since he was a puppy ten years ago. We got him from a breeder in Harleyville, SC, which is how we imaginative people named him Harley. He quickly became part of the family and developed a special bond with all of us. He got the paper for my dad every morning and was his special fishing partner, he protected my brother and I from the boogeyman on our side of the house and was a constant companion of ours while we explored the marshes, swam in the river and got into general mischief. He was the perfect puppy, he never chewed on furniture and never had an accident in the house, ever. Once, a contractor that had done some work in our house came back and broke in through one of the back doors while my mom was upstairs sleeping. Harley attacked and bit the man until he ran off and was caught by a security guard leaving the neighborhood. Harley traveled with us back and forth to Florida and New York and was only separated from us when we were on vacation, but mom always hired someone to stay at the house with him so he would not have to go to the kennel. Harley was a member of the family. Recently, he took an extra role taking care of my mom while she was dealing with a number of health issues. She had to stay home a lot, and Harley was always by her side, taking care of her while no one else was there.
Before I came back to school from Christmas break, I noticed Harley's breathing was suddenly labored. I took him to the clinic where I work and Dr. Senf and I did an ultra-sound while my Mom watched. I noticed immediately that Harley was extremely ill, Dr. Senf looked at me and then looked at my mom who just started to cry. Harley had cancer in his lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, and thyroid, it was just going to be a matter of time. We took him home with plently of pain killers and antibiotics. Mom had a photographer come and take pictures of my brother, Harley and I before I left for school and I said my goodbyes. I was told Harley was doing well, eating and spending his days with Mom at the house when she was in town and with dad at the office while she was gone.
I decided to go home this past weekend to see everyone, especially Harley. When I got home, Harley was not their to greet me as a I pulled into the garage. I walked into the house and found him sound asleep on his favorite couch in the den. His breathing was awful, and he could barely get up. He was not the same dog I left just 6 weeks earlier. I convinced my family to come with me to the clinic on Saturday morning so we could do a quality of life assesment with Dr. Senf. We quickly realized, it was time to let Harley go. Dr. Senf said he would come to the house on his way home so Harley could go peacefully at home. We took Harley home and mom cooked him some left over filet, and gave him american cheese and salami, his absolute favorite. We then all sat out on the porch with Harley and watched the squirrels climb in the trees, his second favorite pastime after fishing. At 130pm, Dr. Senf arrived with a technician and we said our final goodbyes. Harley passed away on my parents laps while he laid on his favorite couch. We all stayed strong until he was gone and then the tears came flowing. Harley was not coming back. This morning, Dad had to go to the end of the driveway and collect the morning papers himself, Mom could not sleep without Harley's snoring from the chair next to the bed, and my brother had to sleep with Harley's favorite duck. Later this afternoon, before I came back to Clemson, my parents friends came over with a squirrel satute. It was the perfect memorial for Harley. He loved hunting squirrels but could never catch one. So when his ashes return to us, we are going to place them right next to the squirrel so he can finally catch one.


On the lighter side of things, my Dad's 5oth birthday is in two weeks, and next Thursday, my Mom is flying four of his best friends from college to Charleston to spend a long weekend with him. I am going to drive to town and pick them up on my way back to the house and we are all going to walk in the back door and surprise him.