I joined this site in December of 2004 and this is, at last, my very first diary. I had been stumbling around the internet searching for sites that were opposed to Bush’s war in Iraq. I think I got here via a link from Eschaton, or maybe Talking Points Memo or maybe AmericaBlog. 2004 was a special year for me because that’s the year I got my precious Lucy.
The Belles of BellaLuz: top, Belle; next, Lucy; next, Libby; bottom, Silly
Many years ago, in 2001, after my best friend lost her second Great Dane that was barely 5 years old (large dogs have limited life spans), she started researching dog breeds looking for smaller dogs that had a longer life span. She discovered the Havanese breed and searched for a breeder. The dog she got lived to be 18 years old. She stopped by my house on her way home from the airport to show me her new puppy. She named her Belle. As soon as I saw Belle, I said, “I want one!” She was absolutely adorable. At the time, I had a new, larger puppy from a local shelter. Meanwhile, I kept bugging my friend to breed her dog so I could have a puppy. We found a stud dog to breed her with and had a successful breeding. Belle had a bit of a hard time with that litter since she was such a tiny dog. My friend never bred her again. The owner of Lucy’s sire suggested that we come up with a kennel name since I planned to breed Lucy. We hung out on my deck one sunny afternoon with a few other friends and came up with BellaLuz, a combination of Belle’s name and Lucy’s name.
Newborn Lucy
There were three puppies in Belle’s litter, and Lucy was the first born. Lucy and my big goofy mutt became good buddies. The other two puppies were males (one was named Ricky). They were born March 29, 2004, which is why I’m finally writing this diary today. Lucy was 16 years old, blind, deaf, but still hanging in there. She had a tendency to wander off on occasion. I once found her stuck in some briars behind a neighbor’s house.
Lucy with her big goofy mutt buddy Boo
I’m now 71 years old and have noticed how my brain doesn’t seem to work so well anymore. I lose things, misplace things, and am easily distracted. One Saturday at the end of November, I put her outside and then forgot all about her.
I went out to my car to put something in it and saw her walking away through the woods. By the time I could get to where I saw her, she was gone. We searched and searched for her, but no luck. I contacted neighbors but no one had seen her.
It’s been very cold here at night, so I’m sure she didn’t survive the first night. I feel just terrible about losing her so carelessly. Meanwhile, I’m just hoping we can find her body so we can give her a proper burial.
The woods where I last saw Lucy
She didn’t have much time left, but I had hoped she would be able to pass peacefully in my arms and not die all alone in the woods. At least freezing to death wouldn’t have been painful. She would just drift off to sleep.
Lucy had four litters of puppies and I kept one of her daughters (Silver Belle, aka Silly), who is very confused about why Lucy is missing. My companion has another one of her puppies so they hang out together. The puppies have formal registered names with a variation of Belle. We call them The Sisters since they look alike even though they are from two different litters.
Lucy on top of snow on the deck after a heavy snowstorm.
The litters had themes. Lucy’s second litter was all males and they were The Wonder Boys (Ebony, Ivory, Fingertips and I forget the 4th one). Silly was in Lucy’s third litter and I feel just terrible that I lost track of Lucy, but perhaps she realized it was her time and she went off into the woods, similar to what Native Americans would do. When I think about it that way, I feel just a little bit better. My gentleman friend has a puppy from Lucy’s final litter, the theme of which was The River Rats, named after the four rivers in my county—Rockfish, James, Tye, and Piney. Silly’s litter was born January 31, 2009, so that was the Age of Aquarius litter (Starshine, Moonbeam, Sugar Magnolia & Doobie). Tye is still named Tye.
Lucy with one of her babies.
My friend is still breeding these dogs with a bitch named AdoraBelle and now has a new litter with 5 puppies. The litter theme is The Supremes and the puppies are all named after Supreme court justices. There’s Thurgood Marshall, RBG, Elena Kagan
Lucy. Libby & Belle playing in the Rockfish River
Louis Brandeis and Sandra Day O’Conner. Lucy’s first litter was 5 puppies but had no theme. My friend did get a female from that litter and named her Liberty Belle (Libby). Libby’s litters tended to be small (she once had a single puppy we named The Lone Ranger and another single puppy named Patti LaBelle). The next litter had 2 puppies named Bert & Ernie. My friend still has Bert.
