Sara

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Sara Jean Gillford was an Amazing Labrador.
In 1999, I was browsing the classifieds and read one that said "Free Older Lab". When I met Sara, she was so incredibly chunky, she wobbled. In her younger years she was a show dog and after the shows she was a therapy dog. Sara was my life.
The funniest thing Sara could do was squint and smile. Sometimes id pretend to be mad at her and yell, she would squint and have this crooked smile and as soon as id change my tone, she looked like a rabid dog snarling (but she was smiling). Sara loved to hug; if you knelt down by her and inched to her chest she would put her two legs on your shoulders. She was such a ham.
One time, I was giving her a bath in the backyard, and when I went in the house, and came back out; Sara opened the gate and took off! (She hated the hose, but loved the lake!) I was screaming and yelling for her, nothing. So I thought the worst, she went on 27th street, one of the busiest streets around. I ran as fast as I could and there she was on the middle median, sniffing grass... I’m screaming and yelling for her to stay there, she sees me and bolts across the last street, I run and as a car passed I fell to the ground(middle of the street cars honking) because I thought when I lifted my head she would be lying there... but instead she was at the damn tree sniffing. I didn’t know weather to slap her ass or squeeze her. So I yelled after squeezing her up.
Another time, when I was with her second dad, I was on the phone with my mom, and my ex was yelling at her about something and he was horrible so she hid in the bathtub and he was yelling and he must have raised his hand to slap and out I hear a "MMMMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM"!! I swear it sounded like Mum; I ran out and grabbed her. Needless to say why he is an ex.
When Sara was 10, the vet told me that her tumors were not worth operating and it is best to put her to sleep, I said: "she swims, she catches, she eats, she wrestles, she is too lively" and that was the last time we saw that vet. Shortly after, she got knocked up by a German Sheppard! At the age of 10! I freaked out. I never had her spayed because I got her when she was 7 years old; I never thought she'd have pups. Well she did. Charlie,Bessa,Madison,Rufus, and I forgot the 5th ones name. And she has two stillborns. How happy she was with those puppies. How happy...
Our last year was rough; I would wake up in a puddle of urine with Sara still sleeping not even knowing she did it, almost every morning. She wouldn’t eat, but she still would want to play. She would fall walking; her back legs would collapse if she was going up stairs. I was holding on for my selfish reasons, after all who am I to say when it is time and when not? I knew I had to help her and lose myself in the process. Sara's last night we went to her favorite place for ice cream - McDonalds, and she had a cheeseburger, and we talked, well I cried and she watched and did her little 'im here mum, don’t worry" stare while laying on my lap. At the vet I sang her the song Edelweiss from her favorite movie and the song 'Sara' "...i'll never find another girl like you...” and told her to seek St. Francis. Then she was gone. The vet locked me in the room with my best friend because I was hysterical.
Some people just will never understand that to some of us, a dog is not 'just a dog', but a child. Sara was the reason I made it through a bad era, she was my sunshine, the love of my life and now the wind beneath my wings.