I guess its time that I give you all a quick background on me and how I wormed my way into a poor graduate student’s heart.
It all starts back in 1997 when my mom (Kori) was a PhD student in upstate New York. She was down there doing her graduate research in Mexican archaeology and really took notice of the importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe in local customs. She decided that she was going to get a dog some day and name it Lupe. That summer she lived with a family who got a toy poodle puppy named Candy. My mom ended up taking care of the puppy, who liked to poop on her suitcase. When mom came back to the US she realized that she missed having the company of a dog, especially since she had grown up with them (my grandma and grandpa had dogs before they had kids), and decided one Sunday in September that it was time. She told my auntie Denise that she was getting a dog and she was getting it that day. So off they went looking and Mom thought she wanted a Maltese to match my grandma & grandpa’s dog Chelsea. I was in the same kennel as that little Maltese so they brought me out too and handed me to Denise. Mom liked the Maltese but she didn’t want a boy, she wanted a girl cuz’ only a girl could be named Lupe. Denise kept handing me over to mom and mom would say that I was cute and hand me back. So I turned on the charm, I nuzzled into my mom’s neck, looked up at her and gave her my best puppy whimper. Denise said to mom, “You found Lupe” and so she had. I went home that day, September 7, 1997 (it was the day after Princess Diana & Mother Theresa’s funerals) but just before mom took me home, I gave her a little present (I peed on her…ooops).
Mom and I lived in the Albany, NY area for the next 11 years. We had a lot of fun and a number of addresses. I loved to chew on things, books, tissues, power cords, eyeglasses and even ate my mom’s Master’s thesis. But one thing was for sure, I was loved by all who knew me. When I was 2 years old I was diagnosed with a cataract in my left eye, over the years I lost the majority of my sight which was the cause of some funny moments when walking into things and people, but it never really stopped me from much.
I provided love and support for my family and friends in tough times. When my mom’s grandma became sick, I would sit with her and let her scratch and pet me for hours. Then when my grandma became sick, I did the same for her. I had a tendency to be crazy and full of energy, but I just knew that they needed me to be calm around them. When mom had to move and leave behind my best friend (Zippy-cat), I was so sad but I had to be strong for her. We found new friends and happiness. And then the craziest thing happened…
In June 2010 we moved to Boston! I had to stay behind at my grandpa’s house with his crazy dog Sugar for a few days so that mom could pack up our apartment in Albany and get settled in the outskirts of Boston, but I was SO happy to finally see my new home. I missed my old friends back in NY but mom would take me back to visit whenever she could. I met awesome new friends here in Newton and continued to shower my mom with all the love in my heart.
The next June (2011) mom took me to the vet for my yearly checkup and the vet noticed immediately that my left eye didn’t look right. Mom had noticed it was red about a week prior. The vet checked my eye pressure and diagnosed me with glaucoma, I was schedule for an appointment with a specialist the next week. Mom spent a lot of time researching glaucoma in dogs and realized pretty quickly, that I would probably lose my eye. Dr. Willis (my eye vet) told mom that my sight was gone and I had been walking around with a migraine and that we could try meds to help get the pressure down. Mom asked if I was in pain and couldn’t see then what would meds really help? July 4th week of that year, I had the surgery and made great progress. Once my hair grew back in, you’d never know the eye was missing and I sure didn’t miss a beat!
Things were great until May of 2012 when I came up lame and mom and I began the process of finding out what was causing it. Tick borne disease? No. Arthritis? No. Soft tissue injury? No. So that left the “big C”. I was diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma, possibly synovial cell sarcoma on my right elbow on May 31, 2012. My amputation surgery was performed on June 7, 2012. The final pathology came back as histiocytic cell sarcoma on June 11, 2012. Fight as I did, my body was not a strong as my spirit and I earned my wings on Jun3 14, 2012 at 8:35 am with my mom telling me how loved I was and thanking for the happiness and joy I brought to all those who knew me. I’ve moved on to the big dog park on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge but am always in my mom’s heart and looking down upon her…well, in between all the belly rubs and yummies I get up here 🙂
“If there are labradoodles and goldendoodles, why can’t I be a cockadoodle?”-Angel Lupe