Marisol

I usually don’t share heartbreak publicly, but we lost our sweet senior Marisol several months ago.  She spent 3 days fighting in the ICU but her little body was ready to leave this world. As her mom, my job was to love her fully and part of that required making the tough decisions when the time came.

I adopted Marisol when she was 14 years old. I had never before seen so much attitude packed in such a little body (6lbs). I guess you could say I hadn’t spent much time with chihuahuas before her. In true chihuahua fashion, she can best be described by one word, feisty. Marisol initially came into our lives as a foster, and after a couple of months I knew there was no parting with her. I had been fostering with the same animal shelter for over 10 years, but Marisol was the first I refused to give back!

Marisol was certainly a special lady. She had two moods, devil and angel. The grumpy Marisol would growl at us, she would often lung at us often baring her teeth at a pace that I never though imaginable for a lady of her age and size (6lbs), she did not appreciate all the attention she received from strangers in public and their comments on how cute she was would often be met with a growl and barking. But Marisol loved us. For her there was mom and dad, everyone else she could do without.

People would often fawn over Marisol, but she was quick to let them know to not come any closer as she was cute but dangerous! Even looking at her for too long would result in people experiencing the wrath of this sweet angel.

The other side of Marisol was the sweetest anyone could have wished for. She was an extension of me and the love of my life. She was glued to one of my limbs at all times. We were inseparable. We quickly learned her boundaries and respected them. This doesn’t mean she didn’t have us screaming in terror from time to time. She would switch from lunging at us and causing to jump back screaming, to wagging her tail and asking to be picked up and placed on the bed or to share a bite of whatever we were snacking on. She was simply the queen of the house and we spoiled her rotten.

I only got 23 months with Marisol, but it was an incredible 23 months that I would not give up for anything even after knowing the pain that her loss caused. She changed my life for the better in ways I could have never imagined. I knew how precious every day with her was, I knew our time was limited but I never accepted it could only be 23 months. I still feel her loss daily, I miss kissing her first thing in the morning and last thing at night.  I miss rushing home past my partner and straight to Marisol and giving her a ton of kisses until she ushers the warning growl that she has had enough. She taught me that rescuing seniors is more important than I previously imagined. Their time with us is short and they teach us that every day is important.

I have shared with friends and family how having Marisol in my life for a mere 23 months was life changing. With Marisol, every day was precious. No matter how difficult of a day I had experienced, Marisol always put a smile on my face. She taught me to value my time and life even more than I had, things that I may have previously taken for granted. She taught me to not let small things ruin my day. I miss her all the time. Even now, months later I often find myself thinking of her. Losing Marisol was perhaps one of the most painful experiences of my life. I smile at the thought of Marisol in doggy heaven. Thinking of her up there bossing all the dogs around in true chihuahua fashion, no matter how big or small they may be.

Even when she was grumpy, Marisol was the sweetest and most precious creature.