About My Dog and the Weekend

So it’s been a bit of a week. I initially made plans to see One of Them Days (2025) a couple of days ago. However, I’ve been working sick throughout the week and after Thursday, I felt that I had to take a day off. Seems like it was for the best because that same day, my dog Mia had to be put to sleep. She had been vomiting the night before and I figured she may have just got one too many treats. However as the day progressed, she got worse to the point where she couldn’t walk straight without staggering and did not seem to acknowledge her surroundings. The vets at the clinic gave their prognosis and suggested tests, but we unfortunately could not afford the mounting fees and we also didn’t wish for her to suffer more as we await a potential cause and solution. I along with my sister brought Mia in, and we were there with her in the final moments before she  went to sleep at 7:43pm 1/24/25. Mia was just over 15 years old.

When I reflect on the day, my mind focuses on odd coincidences. When I took her outside so she could vomit in the backyard, I tried to see if she could make it back inside herself. She just stood outside with her head tilting side to side. She did not seem to acknowledge us, however she did acknowledge the next-door neighbor’s large dog barking at her. This happens each time Mia is in the backyard. Either their dog would initiate by knocking at the fence, or Mia would call out with a bark and the two would have a barking match. In this instance, though when she could hardly navigate and acknowledge us, she returned a few barks back at the neighbor dog. When we arrived at the Vet clinic later that evening, the speakers were playing a playlist of songs from the circa 2009-2011. The song, “Give Me Everything” by Pitbull, featuring AFROJACK, Ne-Yo, and Nayer was playing after my sister and I exited the room where Mia was put to rest. Mia was born sometime in late November 2009, so this and many of the songs playing at the Vet Clinic would have been very popular on the radio during her early years. Moreover, my sister also claims that earlier in the day, after Mia came back in from the front yard, a leaf was stuck to her hind leg and fell once she got into her bed in the living room. My sister says that the leaf was shaped like a heart. 

Mia was a funny dog with a rambunctious personality. I remember the day we got her and she was small enough to fit into the center console of my parent's 2008 Chevy Tahoe. I vividly recall a time in her younger days where she sniped a small, low flying bird by jumping up and slapping the poor thing down with her paw. She then of course tried to eat before I stepped in. She never did get accustomed to strangers at home. I remember trying to ingratiate one of my cousins to Mia by having him give her a treat, they seemed okay for a while. However, as we were in the kitchen getting ready to leave, she ran to try and get a nibble at his leg when she thought we weren’t looking. Even as she got older, she would goad me into walking up and down the stairs with her for seemingly no reason. Mind you when she does this, I had already taken her outside and presented her food. That’s just the thing though, Mia was getting older. She couldn’t jump onto anyone’s bed or even the couches anymore. After tripping a couple of times, Mia became afraid to climb up and down the stairs without me or my Mom there with her. Recently, she no longer seemed to acknowledge doorbells until she saw someone there with her own eyes and then began to bark. I admitted to myself around Christmas last year that she was not long for this world. I do have solace in that she is no longer in any sort of pain, but I am going to miss being woken by quick taps of paws scurrying on the hardwood floor or the scratches on my bedroom door to get me out and take Mia down to do her business outside. 

I didn’t really watch anything new this week. I recently rewatched The Lighthouse (2019) twice in one day (first with director’s commentary and then without), but that was last weekend. It was my first time listening to the commentary and it was quite illuminating and a fun way to watch the movie. I also picked up the hardcover script from Barnes and Nobles, which thankfully now sells A24 movie merch, so I’ve been reading that as well. I received nice new straps to dress down and improve the feel of some of my watches, plus I also finally got my full steel mod kit for my Casio A1200 (or Casio Royale) watch and I’m happy with the results. I also rewatched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), a later John Ford directed western starring James Steward and John Wayne. I first saw it back in my Uni days when I took a class on Westerns. It’s still pretty good and not terribly dated, but honestly I don’t really have it in me to write a full post about the movie.

Next post I hope will be back to our regularly scheduled movie reviews, maybe Companion (2025) if it's out by this coming weekend. Have a good day.