I love to play Scrabble. I started by playing with an imaginary opponent. and keeping score entitled, "Me and Thee". I decided to go to the local Senior Center, where they had Monday Scrabble Games. As I was very much a novice, I was not comfortable playing with "The Big Girls." They not only had been playing with each other for years, but they even played in tournaments. They were quite annoyed when I took a long time to make a decision and then proudly played a couple of tiles that scored 14 points. They countered with 42 points. Needless to say, I was out of my league. However, I met a very pleasant woman there by the name of Karen, who played similarly to me...for fun and at about the same level of ability. Karen and I played together a few times until I decided to give up the center. Playing "Me and Thee" was much more fun. One day, I stopped at a nearby yard sale and as I approached the house, a woman called out, "Renee, Renee, I've been looking for you" It was Karen. Since that day, we have played Scrabble practically every Monday afternoon. When Karen would come over to play Scrabble, she would bring Molly with her. Molly, a very elderly dog and I bonded immediately. I would call her "vacuum mouth" because she was always begging for food and would eat ANYTHING that was given to her. I went to the Pet Shop and requested "the dog treat that all the dogs loved". The clerk, without much thought, handed me a big plastic bag of something called "Greenies". They were really expensive, but Mollie was well worth it.

When Mollie would come to visit, I would give her a "Greenie" a dark green, very hard biscuit, shaped like a toothbrush. Molly, a very well-fed Daschund, grey muzzle and tiny legs tapping, and tail a-wagging, would proudly wobble her way to my apartment looking every bit like a stuffed sausage. Once inside, I would produce her weekly Greenie which she would take, and then survey the area to find the safest place to devour it. At first, it was far away from both of us, on the kitchen rug....eventually she moved up to lay near Karen, and then right next to me. After her "Greenie, she would drink lots of water, in the bowl I provided for her. She would lay by my side, and frequently push my arm, with her muzzle, to be petted. This, happily, went on for over a year. A few weeks ago, on one Monday afternoon, Molly looked at me steadily, and very sadly, for a long time. ..she was telling me that something was wrong with her. I told Karen, who said that she had a similar feeling about Molly. That week, Karen took Molly to the Veterinarian...who took X-rays and discovered two large and invasive tumors in her abdomen.

Molly went downhill very quickly, after that....no longer being able to walk very far, being confused and not hearing. The last time she came over, all she would do was lay near me. When Karen said her most favorite thing to hear, "Come on Molly, let's go home and have some dinner" Molly just looked up at Karen, and then at me, and put her head back down on the carpet. We both looked at one other and knew what that meant. Yesterday, Karen called me to say that she was bringing Molly to the Veterinarian in order to be put to sleep. I offered to go, but Karen felt comfortable about taking Molly by herself. Today, Molly will be taken to Elephant Butte Lake where Karen has a house, and Molly spent most of her life. She will be buried under a special tree, that is rumored to " grow only at a house where there is love...She will be wrapped in her favorite blanket that will also contain the toy she was given as a pup, her favorite ball and one of my Greenies. Goodbye little vacuum-mouth, I love you.