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February 3, 2013

In loving memory of Emil, the puppy

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Editor, The Transcript:

I have been a resident of East Norman since birth.

I am a country girl who has seen the community in East Norman grow and grow.

I am a member of a family that has always taken in strays to love and help have a chance at life after most have been dropped off in the country by uncaring people (my father’s current dog was spade and dumped and she is a wonderful dog).

I am someone who cried when kittens that were dropped in a sack by the highway where my brothers and I caught the school bus died after my brothers and I brought them home to try and save while I was in grade school.

I am a firm believer that some of the best pets I have ever known were strays my family rescued.

I was the child who cried when my best friend and puppy, who held hands with me by keeping my hand in his mouth was killed by a wolf (and I have hated wolves ever since) when I was around 3 years old.

I am (along with my family members) someone who has lost many animals to drivers who think getting somewhere a few seconds earlier is more important than watching for the animals we love so deeply.

I am someone who slows down when I see animals in the road or by the side of the road because I care about your pets and don’t want to hurt them and wouldn’t want you or your children to experience the heartache my family often feels.

I am someone whose heart broke (along with my daughter and her father) when someone hit and killed our darling puppy Emil, with her brown color and two different colored eyes by Bennett Church on 156th this Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.

I am someone who wonders if they ever stopped or cared.

I am the one who took Emil’s mother (who someone dumped at the church when she was a puppy) to my ex-husband’s house across the road because the pastor and his wife already had two dogs and I didn’t have a home of my own to keep her at.

I am someone who struggles with wanting to love another animal because of the heartbreak of losing them.

Finally, I am someone who can’t express myself any better than what my 16-year-old daughter Ariel posted on her Facebook page:

“That moment when you lose someone close to you, you start regretting every moment you didn’t see them, whether they are our family, a pet or a friend. Maybe a mix, but you still regret everything, think over all the things you should have done instead of what you did ... But that isn’t what you should do. You should keep the memories you had of them and smile because you got to be with them. It is impossible to not cry, but never dwell on the fact that you could have always done better, just be happy for the times you were with them. Why am I typing this? I just lost one of the sweetest puppies I knew to a driver who didn’t see her. R.I.P. Emil ...”

Marilyn Crawford

Norman

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