My Sweet Quito

When I got my first Chihuahua, Cisco, my mom was in a care center.  She had gotten a horrible infection during heart surgery, and her chest had to be left partly open, and she was on IV antibiotics.

I would take Cisco up to see her almost every day; well, either Cisco or Lobo, my cockatoo.  But one of them would go with me to see their Nana.

After mom came home, and things got back to 'normal,' I thought it would be good for Cisco to have some doggie companionship, so I called his breeder to ask her if she had any puppies in the offing.  She didn't, but her daughter did.  This was 1999, and Cisco had been born in 1998.  That's him up there, looking like he only has two legs. :)

I called her daughter and she said she'd like to come to my home, and essentially 'vet' me.  I was perfectly fine with that.  Good, responsible breeders won't sell their babies to just anyone.  She had three pups and she would bring them and their mother, but she'd bring pictures of dad, essentially the sperm donor, as he belonged to someone else.

Oh the puppies were beautiful.  The one female of the litter had already been purchased, but the two boys were available.  One was short haired, and the other was long haired.  Their mom was a short haired white, and dad was a long haired reddish color.  They boys were beautiful.

I immediately fell for the short haired pup.  Mom fell in love with the long haired pup, and ... yes, we got them both.

Whenever I worked at home, they would sit on my sofa and make sure I was working hard.  :)  That's Quito on the left and Jake on the right.  Jake died last year of stomach cancer.  And my sweet Quito died this afternoon.  

It's amazing the size of the hole they leave in your heart.  I can't cry, because my lungs are already far too screwed up right now, and crying only makes it worse.  But I'm crying inside.  And I think of Cisco, who's a year older than them.  I watch him like a hawk normally, but now... oy.

Oh well, that's life, and that's the heart-breaking side of loving anything.  Nothing is forever and people and pets die.  The main thing is that you loved them to bits while they were here.