Tasha    by Alys Ame                 Mar 2003

	One morning in late July I woke to the sound of a light tapping in the hallway. 
I lay in bed for another five minutes wondering what the strange nose could be. Then 
I heard my mother say "It's all right Tasha, mommies here, mommies here". My mother 
only spoke those words when our family dog Tasha was having a seizure. Thinking this 
was just another seizure I went back to sleep. Tasha would get seizures once and a awhile, 
but they only lasted for about fifteen minutes and she was always fine afterwards. 
	When she first started having them about five years back we took her to the vet and 
he could not explain the seizures. They might have been a result of the medication Tasha 
was taking. She had thyroid problems and took pills for it and she had been for as long as 
I could remember. She also took pain medication for her arthritis. There was also the fact 
that when she was getting 'fixed' as a puppy the vet did a bad job and stitched Tasha up 
with wire, causing her greater damage resulting in a hernia. 
	When I awoke again later on I heard the words dead and yard spoken by my dad. 
Hearing these words made my heart stop. Was that not just another seizure? I had to find out. 
	I got out of bed and as quick as I could (I was on crutches at the time) went down the 
hallway into my kitchen where I found my mother drinking her coffee. I looked at her and asked 
if Tasha was dead. She said no, but she would be soon. Looking outside I saw my Tasha baby 
lying in the dirt shaking, she was still having a seizure. 
	I was sitting at our kitchen table eating breakfast when my mom walked in and said that 
she was taking Tasha to the pound. She picked up Tasha and carried her in a beach towel to 
the car. I was still sitting in at the kitchen table, when my mom walked past me with Tasha in her 
arms she asked me if I wanted to say goodbye. I just turned my head away and said no. I didn't 
need to say goodbye to Tasha because I told her long ago that when she died I would miss her 
and love her forever. Tasha was a great dog, friend, and sister. She kept me company when I 
was alone, she let me hug her for however long I needed to in order to make me feel better, and 
she loved to chase doggie treats across the floor then pounce upon them all the time wagging her 
tail. 
	She was a beautiful dog with a full coat of black and gray fur and big brown eyes. I once 
read a book about a boy who was paralyzed and spent his days in a wheelchair. He had no control 
over his body, not even his eyes. He too had seizures. But the boy said that whenever he had a 
seizure it was the best feeling in the world. He described it as leaving his body and flying somewhere 
else, flying free. I wonder if Tasha's seizures made her feel free too. 
	All I know for sure is that she is free now. Free from all her pain, flying free, flying some where else. 

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