Belle 
September 8, 1998 - January 20, 2008
My little best-friend that will be forever missed, but never forgotten!
I have been meaning to do this for sometime now, but it has just been too hard. After reading my sister's post about Belle it inspired me to write mine. To lose Belle has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. D and my family have been amazing! They have made it so much easier for me... I don't know what I would do without them. Knee has called me everyday to make sure I'm doing okay, LUV YOU and Thank You! My Dad and the guys he works with made Belle the best doggie coffin ever, he even had it lined on the outside with a leopard blanket and on the inside with a pink satin with a leopard pillow and blanket. I left Belle two of her favorite toys, a couple pictures, and a letter from me. Knee's family also left her a little note. The kids made me the sweetest cards EVER! LP and E came out of there way to be there for me. I have to say it was a very impressive turn out. Paw-Paw let me bury her on the farm and it makes me happy to know that she is at a place I LOVE and I'll always be able to visit. So thank you to everyone who called me. As they say every little bit helps.
Some of you know and some of you don't know, Belle has suffered from epilepsy and has been medicated since August. We never knew how or why she got the disease. Since she was 3 yrs old it started with one seizure a year to gradually moving up to a few per month. The seizures had become more frequent and that's why she had to be medicated. She also had a bad episode in August and completely lost all of her motor skills, the only thing she could do on her own was hold her head up. D and I had to do everything for and even teach her how to walk again. My parents were a big help in that as well when D and I went to NC. The vet was amazed that Belle was able to recover from all of that. It just shows you how strong the power of love is. I do feel she was robbed of her life but I know she had a great one while she was with us. She touched the hearts of many people, some who weren't even fond of dogs. Belle had a very special personality, she really felt she was one of us. Belle had always been there for me even if I wasn't there for her. Durring times I felt no one else was there for me I knew I could always count on her for comfort. Writing this is very hard as I keep having to get myself together. I'm going to miss my lil shopping buddy. She loved to be out and about, as long as Belle could see me she was happy no matter where we were. You get one great pet in your life and she was definetly mine. Belle was D's first dog and she had quit an impact on him, he is now a dog lover. 
Here's the story of what happed so I don't have to keep telling everyone. Belle was her happy active sweet self on the 18th and when we all woke up on the 19th she wasn't feeling well. We all were quite sick. D and I were rushing to get the place ready for our House Warming Party. Everyone tells me that I was with Belle all night so that makes me happy becasue that's been hard for me. Even when she wasn't feeling well she still wanted to be a good host and hung out with everyone, no matter how many times I put her into her bed. We thought she was constipated and when we went to sleep around 4 am we were hoping that when we woke up she would have gone to the bathroom and been okay due to this being a common problem. That wasn't the case when I woke up around 9 am I saw her curled up on the blanket by the sofa where Lil C and A were sleeping, I thought she was fine till I got closer. Belle's front two legs were twitching. I took her outside and realized she was worse than I thought. I woke D and, put her in bed with him. I rushed over to CVS to buy baby suppositories. When I got back her seziure had worsened and her breathing was labored. I had already called mom and dad and asked them to met us at the ER vet. After racing over to the vet the doctor's prognosis wasn't very optomistic. I asked to see Belle and when we were all in the room Belle's sprits lifted and the Dr. felt a little better. But I knew in my heart that the worst was to come. When I saw the Dr. get teary eyed I knew the outcome was grave. I took Belle home and hoped for the best. They HEAVILY medicated her and wished us the best. D and I were telling Belle to "fight" and "you can do it" and how much we loved her. Belle was fighting and she was trying to sit up but her body had other plans. She passed away in my arms at 9:40 pm shortly after I told her she didn't need to fight anymore and that it would be okay. After that my emotions had overtaken me. D was the best and I thank him so much for being there for me. My parnets, Lil C, and A came over, I then asked my dad to take her with him.
So with everything I went throught with Belle I have a new found respect for anyone that has a child or pet with a disease or disability and how they cope with everything. I do have to say that I had a mother's intuition when she would have seizers in the middle of the night and she didn't make any noise I always woke up no matter what time it was and would do my best to comfort my little princess.
This spring I'm going to plant four different types of flowers in purple and white around the area where Belle was laid to rest. It will look nice with the "B" Knee and the girls made her. These are some of my favorite pictures and memories of Belle. I wish I could have posted more from the past but I don't have them scanned in my computer yet. Knee I didn't have one of you and Belle.
Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers, they have really helped us in our time of loss.
