Where Kayleigh Rests: Before There Was My Kayleigh, There Was Kayleigh

I got my Kayleigh, day one.

A late summer dinner at a house in Naperville, IL, with friends of my girlfriend quickly had me ignoring the conversation. I had just befriended a golden retriever, a beautiful gentle dog. The owners were fond of her and they quickly changed the conversation to tell me all about their pride and joy this beautiful dog, who couldn't get enough of my loving, brought to their lives.

The dog's name was Kayleigh, and the owners, Bob, who was a pilot, and his wife, I don't remember her name, were about to tell me something I didn't want to hear. Kayleigh was dying of terminal cancer. Bob proceeded to point out the tumors on this beautiful dog's body. For the rest of the evening the conversation pretty much revolved around this one special, spoiled dog.

Kayleigh was treated with the best of care, but tonight it no longer mattered. I convinced Bob to let her enjoy part of my steak that I had not eaten. Kayleigh was in heaven. She had never gotten table scraps before.

That night I learned of the bond between Kayleigh and her masters, and I was in awe. I knew then I wanted my own Kayleigh. I would learn about ten days later or so, Kayleigh died.

Well, I got my Kayleigh and she was every bit as special as her namesake. In fact, she was better because she was mine and I got to enjoy the unconditional love that came with a "Kayleigh" which the owners had shared with me on that late summer night in Naperville.

Today, has been an emotional day filled with many phone calls and well wishes. Like her namesake, Kayleigh touched the lives of so many and so many tears have been shed for "my pretty girl." I'd always say "you're my pretty girl," and her eyes would widen, she would perk up, and her tail would go crazy, sometimes knocking things around. Even as she was dying, those special words, even though she was trying to let go and wouldn't look up at me until the very end, as I petted her head and rubbed her belly as she partially laid in my lap, had her tail wagging just a little bit.

I buried her last night shortly after she died. She is buried under a walnut tree that I frequently caught her at, and where she wanted to go and die. I of course tried to get her to fight not realizing the fluids were quickly filling in her lungs suffocating "my pretty girl."

Today, I planted a lily at the foot of her grave and made a tombstone for her so when I visit Ohio, I can come back and pay respect to about the best dog I can imagine having.

I will head back to Missouri tomorrow. It will be strange to see the co-captain's seat empty without the addition of millions of new lost dog hairs. The miles we traveled and the things we did and saw together. I remember my English Lit teacher at Joliet Junior College, Stacey Murphy, once compared my travels with Kayleigh to John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley. We did see a large portion of America, didn't we Kayleigh? From the beaches of Lake Michigan, the waterfalls of Arkansas, to the plains of Oklahoma, and possibly her favorite place of all the trails of the Appalachians. I wish we had more time.

So to give Kayleigh the proper respect she deserves, I placed a tombstone at the head of her grave:

Kayleigh
2003-2011
"you're a pretty girl"