R.I.P. Sophie Louise

On July 30th, 1999, a petite little thing came to my parents' house to start the second part of her life. She was named Sophie Louise and became the queen of the castle. Courtesy of my dad, here's a photo of that first day:

Sophie was adopted by my parents and given so much love. Sophie had quite a personalilty. She was stubborn. She was a show-off. She was quiet. She was afraid of fireworks and loud noises. She dug a hole to China in my parents' backyard. For a little girl, she had a lot of life. She also had more nicknames than one could count:

Sophie, Sophie Louise, Sopher, Sopher McDopher, McD, Louise, Lou Lou, Peanut, Peanut Potpie, Snapping Turtle Girl, Poopshootle Penny (yes, really), and many others that I'm sure my parents had for her that I'm not thinking of right now.

At almost 15 years old, Sophie began to decline. Her mobility was seriously impeded and she seemed confused and unsure of where she was. My parents had to make a difficult decision and send her over the Rainbow Bridge this morning at 9:30am PST. She was lucky to have them and they were lucky to have her. I was lucky to have known her and hugged her and snuggled her when I visited my parents.

She was a trailblazer in a way. She was the first Greyhound my parents adopted and have since adopted three more (Zeke, who passed away, Artie, and the newest member, RayRay.) Because of my parents' experience with Sophie, I believe it allowed them to open up their hearts and homes to these other Greyhounds. You just couldn't help but love Sophie.

I'll miss you, Snapping Turtle Girl.