Oscar Bentley
Our family dog turned 15 years old two days ago, and then he died last night.
I was talking on the phone to my Dad last night. He mentioned Oscar’s birthday, and that he’d had a seizure, telling me the story of how the vet diagnosed the dog with brain tumors, but since they are usually non-lethal in dogs, chances are he’d die of old age first. As he let the dog out, Dad and I also talked about his upcoming trip to Italy and a bunch of other things while I picked up some groceries. We hung up, and as I was putting the groceries away, I heard my cell phone voice mail tone go off – it was Dad, again.
His voice mail was just, “Jamie, I know we just talked, but give me a call back, okay? Thanks, bye.”
I knew from his voice something was wrong, and was pretty scared when I dialed the phone – my imagination had my sisters brutally murdered, my Dad diagnosed with a horrible disease, and a few other terrible things running through my head.
Turns out, Oscar probably died exactly as we were talking about his condition. He went outside, crawled under a bush, and let go. Dad sounded a little shaken up, but my sisters were on their way over.
Oscar and I have a colorful past. I remember when we got him – the family had been talking about a second dog for a while, and all of a sudden, in a Sunday afternoon, we knew what we wanted and where to get him. Put together some money, got into a car, and picked him up. I must have been 14 or 15. He looked like a rabbit, with ears sticking up too big for his soft little head.
He set off my allergies off and on, so Oscar and I didn’t spend a whole lot of time together. We’ve lived 1200 miles apart for 7 years now, so I’m not terribly sad.
But all dogs in our house eventually became My Mom’s Dog, and so now I have that familiar picture of a deceased someone(thing) walking into heaven, straight into her arms. That chokes me up, but I’ll bet they are really glad to see each other.
May 17th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Aw Jamoie. I am sorry to hear about Oscar. I am glad it was quick, though, and it sounds like he lived a good life and was ready to go to his reward.
May 24th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
After his seizure, which was at my house, for the first time in 15 years, Oscar climbed into my lap and curled up to love me. He’d never just jumped into my before so I was completed shocked. I will never forget how he made me feel after he scared the hell out of me…