My Best Friend...

My best friend is very sick. We have been together for over 16 years. I don’t know what is wrong with her but she is going for an evaluation and tests at the Mississippi State University Medical Hospital in Starkville, MS next Monday. She could be there the whole week before we know more about her condition. My best friend’s name is Pica. She came to live with us in 1994. Her personality is always sweet even when I have been cross with her. If you haven’t guessed by now, my best friend is my 10-pound Chihuahua. She hasn’t always been a big girl. When we brought her home to Lawrenceville, GA in November 1994, she probably weighed less than 2 pounds. But the biggest thing about her is her heart. Her tail always wags whenever she sees us even when she is ill. She is distraught when we leave her for more than 3 days. She used to sleep with us and each night at about 9pm she would come into the living room and bark when she thought it was time for all of us to go to bed. After she fell off the set of stairs I made for her (which she had been using for about 6 years to climb up onto our bed), we stopped letting her get up too high on anything. So now I sleep next to her doggie bed in my sleeping bag and sometimes she crawls in with me, her back next to my tummy. Crawling is easier for her since her hind legs and one of her front legs have become weak and occasionally unresponsive causing her to stumble and collapse in a heap. The other night she lost her balance and fell into her water bowl. We have to help her stay upright when she pees and poops. Age catches up with all of us. I am hoping we can make her better so she can live the rest of her days in comfort. I am selfish. I don’t want to lose her. I am not prepared for her to go. I don’t think I will ever be ready. I will never have a best friend like her again.