Warning, this story might make you cry.
The hardest thing about having a pet is losing a pet. This week, Stephen Rampersad of Pace and his family are grieving the death of their beloved 14-year-old dog Wilson. According to a story that appeared in the Pensacola News-Journal, he was diagnosed with cancer last Friday. His time had come, and there was really no going back. You can't cheat old age, no matter how hard you try. The family decided that Wilson's last day would be Monday, three days later.
One more weekend to share with their special boy!
They made the most of it, deciding to make sure Wilson didn't spend another second of his life alone. Stephen is a firefighter in Milton and had to work on Sunday, but the family brought Wilson down to the fire station to hang with his dad. On Monday, Wilson's last, Stephen decided to take the dog to Pensacola Beach and let him do whatever he wanted. He got a call from Shaggy's Pensacola Beach on the way down (a work thing with Stephen's second job), so he had to stop there. That turned out to be a pretty great deal for Wilson, who was allowed to do what every dog loves. Yup, he was allowed to eat whatever he wanted. Wilson had ice cream, a burger, fries, and was even offered a full plate of bacon. Stephen told the newspaper that everyone at Shaggy's "went out of their way to be kind" to his dog.
I'd suggest you read the whole story and look at the pictures from Wilson's last day. It will definitely put a smile on your face, even if you find yourself tearing up (as I'm doing while I write this blog post).
We never get enough time with our pets. Even when they have a full life, as Wilson did, they're gone too soon and leave a void. It's been 18 months since our sweet dog Atticus left the earth, and we still expect to hear him barking at the T-Mobile commercials on TV (he thought the T-Mobile sound was a doorbell). But I would love to have been able to let Atticus have a last weekend like Wilson had, for him to end life with a full belly at the end of another great day. Most dogs don't get that, but I'm glad Wilson was able to spend those final few days doing what dogs love best. He got to hang with his peeps, go for rides, eat all he wanted, and experience the love he'd given his family over a lifetime.
RIP Wilson
#PetsAreFamily
[Photo: Stephen Rampersad | Facebook]