Maggie "Mae" Huffman

Maggie came into our lives on February 14, 2007.  Jason had been given the okay to be around "new" animals, and I had always wanted a big dog.  My sister in law helped me look at different rescue groups to search for the perfect one.  We found Maggie's picture and I knew, she was the one.  The picture showed a cute little puppy with big feet.  When I got to the rescue group, Maggie was anything but little.  But her eyes and her demeanor were so sweet and calm, I knew she was still the one.  After calling Jason and discussing it with him, we decided to bring Maggie home.  Maggie wasn't her name at the shelter, but Jason didn't like it, so we made it Maggie.

Maggie had had a hard life.  She had been born, based on their best guess, in July of 2006.  She had been chained to a bench outside the rescue group's building in the early morning hours of December that year.  It had been snowing, and was really cold but Maggie made it.  They weren't sure of her heritage, but we discovered that she was part Rhodesian and part something else.  Over the years we discovered that she could jump and climb over our 8' fence, jump halfway up the trunk of our trees in the back, and her "lions" were squirrels.  She protected our backyard with a ferocious dedication that was unwavering even up until yesterday.

She sat patiently while I cried at night after the kids were in bed, when Jason was in the hospital going through treatment or battling one of the infections he got and was in ICU.  She comforted the kids when they couldn't go see their dad because he was in isolation, or when school was tough.  She counter surfed if she felt her meals weren't enough, and protected our house against strangers.  She was truly, our family protector.

Shortly after Jason passed, a lump was discovered on her neck.  After doing surgery it was discovered that she had a cancerous mass, but they were pretty sure they had gotten it all.  Unable to afford the chemotherapy that was suggested, we watched and waited instead.  Almost three years passed with no other lumps detected, but then shortly after Valentine's Day of this year, one developed under her front leg.  As the months grew, so did it and new ones showed up as well.  She went in for a checkup this past Tuesday, and in the 2 months since she'd been in 6 new tumors were discovered, she'd lost 10 pounds, and one tumor was near her bladder and another one close to her lungs making it hard to breathe.  She refused to take her pain medication.  She ALWAYS knew how you were trying to give it to her, and refused.  We tried forcing it down her throat, but she'd act like she was swallowing it and then spit it out.  It was time.

Maggie May (as Jason called her) went to Heaven yesterday, June 20, 2013.  I miss her terribly, but she's not hurting.  She was truly my baby, and I will miss her.  But, she's chasing squirrels and getting face messages from Jason, just like she did here.  She was a very good girl.