Angel Girl
“Honey let’s load the station wagon with boxes to go to the new place. You and the kids can go take it to the trailer this afternoon after we go to the flea market.”
I could hear James tell me. For the past month, we had been going to the flea market and selling refurbished computers. This particular day was a Sunday. The next week we were moving so we were gradually taking stuff to the new place. James had lost his contract job at a fancy company. He worked on computers and the company was downsizing and no longer needed him. So, we were surviving on his unemployment check and whatever money we could make selling stuff.
“Hey Ya’ll, we are going to take some boxes over to the new place and make sure the air conditioner is on since it is so hot outside. Let’s take the dogs with us to the flea market and then to the trailer,” I said to the kids.
Justin picked up Sammy, the puppy, who was part terrier and dachshund and took him to the car. Our other dog, Angel was a Labrador retriever mix. She was about 2 years old at the time of this incident. She was special in that she was Jessica’s dog. Kristina found the leash and clipped it onto Angel’s collar and dragged her to the car.
I can still hear Jessica begging for a puppy. “Oh please Daddy, can I please have a puppy? I will take care of it and feed it and love it.”
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Two weeks before she died of cancer our landlord finally agreed for us to get Jessica a puppy, she had been wanting one for years and we couldn’t have one because of where we were living. James had found Angel at the flea market and bought her for 5.00 when we lived in the Charleston area. When he came home, he put Angel in Jessica’s arms and she was so happy. Jessica wept with joy because she finally got her puppy. Angel followed her everywhere. By this time Jessica was in a wheelchair but it didn’t matter to Angel, she would follow behind Jessica no matter where she would go. She would sleep with Jessica during naps and would only be away from her when she went into her crate at night. When Jessica died, Angel mourned for weeks. She would be at the closed door of Jessica’s room and would just lay there. She eventually became Kristina’s dog. She would sleep with Kristina when she got potty trained. Kristina would tell Angel, “Sweetie, I will be right back.”
At this particular time, Angel would split if left off of her leash. We had just gone into the trailer as I was yelling at the kids, “Close the door.” Angel bolted out the door and darted out of sight into the woods by the trailer. We were not familiar with the area and had no idea there was a busy street just beyond the woods. Kristina, who was about 9, took after Angel immediately after she saw her split. Well, all I heard was screeching of brakes and Kristina yelling my name, “Mo-mmeeey”. When Justin and I finally got to where she was, I saw a Ford truck stopped in the middle of the road, and I saw Angel lying on the road. I started crying and the lady that had hit Angel, helped Kristina get Angel in the back of her truck. She knew where the nearest emergency vet was located. So, I went back to my car through the woods and went to follow this lady to the vet’s office.
As I was leaving, I could hear Kristina say, “Oh Angel, you got to be ok! Oh, please God let her be ok!” Kristina was so upset; she was crying and was in the back of the truck with Angel desperately praying that her baby girl would be fine.
As I was driving, I was wondering how I was going to tell James about Angel getting hit by the truck. I couldn’t believe this was happening right now. It seemed so surreal. We already had lost our daughter Jessica the year before. We just couldn’t lose her dog too. Angel was our one connection to Jessica. I called James as I was following the lady close behind to the vet’s office. I told James what happened. I said, “I will call you when we see the vet and see how bad the injuries were.” Justin was holding Sammy and I could hear crying in the backseat. We got to the vet’s office rather fast. Thankfully, they were an animal hospital that was open on Sunday. Angel was seen rather quickly, and I was so upset telling this lady about Jessica and how Angel had been her dog. I even remember showing her pictures of Jessica and Angel together.
I was hoping and praying that Angel would be better and the bill wouldn’t be too high. We just didn’t have the money for a vet bill at this time. The lady was a retired counselor from a high school in that area. She had just lost one of her dogs and had empathy for us. She ended up paying for the vet bill because she felt so bad. This was one of the times I feel like God protected our little family. Once I called James, I was happy to report that the bill was paid! It could very well have been Kristina that could have gotten hit instead of Angel. Angel stayed the night at the hospital and James went and got her the next day.
Angel had a long recovery and eventually had several litters of puppies over the years before she got fixed. She eventually had cancer and died in 2014. She lived to be 13 years old. She is playing with Jessica in heaven, I am sure.
