Rest In Peace, Touille (May 1989 - May 2006)

Touille passed away on May 27, 2006 at the ripe old age of 17. The week before Memorial Day, Touille was unable to keep food down, lost weight and just wasn't her chipper self anymore. The photo above was taken three weeks earlier on May 7, when Touille was still eating well and strutting along on her walks with tail curled up, heading purposefully down the sidewalk.

Although this picture doesn't show her sweet little face, I like it because it shows a view of her that I often had when we spent time together: Touille well out in front of me, trotting along on her four short legs almost faster than I could walk. Over the sixteen years that Touille was with me, we learned to keep pace with each other. Touille was young when I was in my thirties, middle aged when I was in my forties, and elderly when I reached my fifties.

Here we are at the blessing of the animals at Christ Church Cathedral, October 2, 2005:



The staircase to our apartment is 16 steps straight up. Touille always liked to leap up the last few steps:



Here is Touille, followed by her best friend Nutmeg, sniffing the perimeter of Nutmeg's yard:



Touille visited her "cousin" Alex (Alexandra) the dog, whom she's known since Alex was a puppy, and her human "cousin" Lucas, who met Touille for the first time on an unseasonably warm day, January 8, 2006:



At home in the big bed, ears alert:



Curled up asleep:



Here's Touille in her own bed, which was an old armchair right next to my bed. You can see how big her ears and eyes look as compared to her tiny feet:



Here's a photo from March of this year that, due to the lack of flash and the motion of Touille, looks like a ghost dog ascending the stairs:



I miss you so much, little Touille. The place feels empty without you.