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Alaska |
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Alaska |
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| I made my quilt square for
Roxanne, since she came from NEOESR. This is her story after she
reached Alaska. If you would like to read about how she came
to be rescued, you can find her story in the Old English Times, Dec., 1996,
pg. 44. I also wanted to mention on my square, Charlie, my first
rescue, from Alaska, and Dudley, from northern California, who still gives
us a daily dose of laughter.
Roxie's Final Journey Dec. 19, 1987--Sept. 18, 1997 When I picked up Roxie from Anchorage International Airport on September 9, 1996, I'm not sure what I expected. This was almost the last leg of her journey from Boston. All that was left was an hour's drive to Palmer. Roxie was in fairly good shape--considering everything she had been through. Her hair was starting to grow back and those funny looking sacs on her rump were not quite as bad as they were in the picture that Annie sent, but she was no beauty queen. At under 60 pounds, with her large frame, she was skin and bones. Well, we would have to try and get this girl in shape! She settled in immediately after telling two-year-old Dudley that she was the boss. It was already starting to get cold, and soon everything would be frozen. Roxie began to thrive. I finally was able to cut her food down from the 9 cups a day to about 4 as her body began to use the food she ate. She gradually gained weight until she reached 96 pounds and had a full coat of hair, those funny looking sacs were gone, and she rarely scratched! What a change! We now had a sheepdog who looked like a sheepdog. As winter became spring she needed a haircut--she actually had long hair. She would not tolerate being brushed. I believe that her body had gone through so much and she was so uncomfortable for much of her life, that she didn't like anyone touching some areas of her skin, especially pulling with a brush. So a haircut was in order. We now had a clipped sheepdog. We had seen the vet often, mostly
with minor irritations, but as spring arrived and everything bloomed, she
developed some sores and minor hair loss. We were just hoping to
get through the summer with minimum
I want to think she had a good summer. I think her favorite thing was going on her walks and getting a drink in the creek as she waded in. We will remember her barking at airplanes, herding us around the house, usually to the kitchen, playing with Dudley, guarding her bone, going for rides in the car, lifting all four feet at the same time as be bounced in excitement, getting us up early, rolling upside down on a "good" smell, jumping in the tub for a bath, bringing her ball when you asked her to and sometimes when you didn't, and her love of lettuce. I will remember petting and talking to her each evening as I put her head in my lap before going to bed. Without any forewarning, Roxie
died in her sleep on Sept. 18, after just a year with us. I hope
she is finally completely at peace. No, she would never be a beauty
queen, but she was beautiful to us.
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