The Wilson 6 Chronicles

When we first moved to our house back in July 2002, one of the first things we noticed was that the house across the street had a ton of little flags in the ground on the perimeter of the yard. When we soon met our new neighbor, Nancy, we found out the flags were training markers for the underground fence for her dog, Greta. And so began a wonderful relationship between us and our neighbor-dog Greta. Greta is the kind of dog that makes people want to own a dog. She is well trained, nice to children, beautiful, and will tear a person apart should they appear as though they might hurt Nancy. She is the alpha-bitch (as Nancy and I lovingly refer to her) and quite frankly I have always harbored dog envy for a dog like Greta. When she runs, it is like watching a fine thoroughbred horse galloping at the Kentucky Derby. My kids have all grown up around her and love her to the point that Eleanor associates most dogs with Nancy (even naming her favorite toy dog, Nancy). Harper is just getting to know the feeling of Greta's tongue as she licked her little baby toes- Greta has a thing for baby toes. She is just a great freakin' dog. Well, Greta died today. She had lupus and it was slowly eating away at her quality of life. Nancy came home at lunch today to Greta not feeling well (I will spare the details) and when she went to the vet, she had to have her put down. She held her until she fell asleep, then came home to cry into her beer. After getting off of the phone with her, I cried too. Farewell to you Greta, you were truly a giant among dogs and I hope you are enjoying your time galloping in the fields of wildflowers and swimming the ponds of the doggy afterlife.