Marley and Me

Today I got the movie Marley and Me in the mail via Netflix.com. I decided to watch it after gymnastics to keep the movies going (we only get one disc at a time and it takes about 2 days for a disc to get here so I try not to dawdle) and it is a movie that Brian probably wouldn't watch so why the delay?

In case you didnt know this is Marley and Me:



Bad mistake .....very bad mistake. I cant remember the last time I got so upset because of the last time. Oh wait, yes I can. It was at "The Horse Whisperer" which mom thought was supposed to be a comedy. She is still laughing about the error...I am still traumatized.   I really should have watched it with either my mom or Brian.

For those who live underneath a rock, the movie is about a young couple getting a cute puppy and their lives together as everyone gets older. The puppy is probably one of the worst but sweetest dogs you have ever known. Sweet because he isn't mean but he is very destructive. The sad part comes when they have to put the puppy down. This is something almost everyone has had to go through and is very very sad, but like my father I am not sure why this  story got so big. It is really just life, nothing special, nothing all that different. But maybe that is why it got so big? We can all relate. It was very well written, portrayed, played out. I have not read the book but the movie was very well done.

I know I can relate since I had to put down my puppy William.

William :)

William was sort of old when we had to put him down though Benjamin (puppy behind him) has now surpassed him in age. William was our pretty dog...the one that could have been bred and shown. Until Benjamin came along, we think he really thought he was human. William was my first puppy and was my doggy almost, kinda, in my own little world. Benjamin was my mom's though I have stolen him from her since William's passing even though I am in SC and he is in CT still. Always loved Benny boy but we didnt quite bond as tight until William went away. Benny boy still channels William sometimes.

Anyway, William got sick. He had gotten bloat and I think that was really the peak of it all.I was home from college, I forget what break though I think it was Thanksgiving/Fall and I think it was Junior year but I am really bad with dates/years. I remember playing on the computer late into the night... I think it was about 11pm at the time when I just felt something was wrong. Something was wrong with William and it had to do with his breathing. Went into the kitchen and William was up and all smiles (yes puppies can smile)  but his breathing was very shallow. Mentioned to Mom the next morning and went on with life. Except Mom noticed it too and it didn't stop. Mom brought him to the vet and he had a tumor in his rib cage that was causing his lungs to open fully hence the shallow breathing. I am forgetting the exact timing of this but William had surgery. I cant remember if this was surgery to fix the bloat or to help with the tumor. I really want to say it was the bloat so this is before I noticed the shallow breathing. I found out about the surgery on the way home from Easter Break. We stopped by to see William in the hospital before going home. He was so miserable. Wouldn't eat and he barely wagged when he saw me and wouldn't eat.

Anyway I remember the vet being impressed that I noticed this especially since I didn't really live there anymore and I hadn't had much time with William. I dont think William got surgery for the tumor as the risk out weighed the benefit so we just had to wait. We didn't put him down then because he was still his normal self ignoring the shallow breathing. Slowly, but steadily he began the decline. He stopped eating. That was the craziest thing. This dog would eat anything...carrots, brie, ice cubes, his own food, tuna, meat, anything. And he just stopped eating. I remember being home again and just hearing him whine. William rarely whines. Benjamin, the baby of the two, has been all out of sorts since he knows something is not right. I go into the kitchen and I decide to try and feed him. I don't mind him dying but I don't want it to be because of starvation. Now when I feed William I have to feed Benjamin too since you can't just feed one of them. Benjamin had a feast that night since I didn't stop feeding William until William wouldn't eat anymore. They ate tuna, roastbeef, milk, grape juice, anything and everything I could find in the fridge. I really think this was his last meal so to speak. It was a bit after that we finally put him down but I don't feel like he ate much else if anything until we did put him down.

The day finally came when he was just too miserable to be around...we could not do that to our sweet boy. I was there of course, I got to help. I held his leg straight while the doctor put the sleepy medicine in. Back to the movie, I only really started crying when they were showing the night before when Marley's stomach twists for the second time and Owen is taking him to the vet. Owen and Jenn know what is going on and what will happen, the two younger kids have no clue other then Marley is sick but the oldest child knows exactly what is going on. That is when I started to cry. When I watched the oldest lean down and say goodbye to the puppy he had grown up with. I started bawling when they were at the Vet's and the vet put the sleepy medicine  in. I couldn't breathe during the burial scenes. I have watched all of the Special Features just because I wasn't ready for it to end yet.

I really liked the movie, given everything. Maybe it got so popular so quick was because it reminded all of us of moments like this. All I know is I still have Benny boy and now Daisy. Benny boy is getting older, he has surpassed William in age and Benny boy was the unhealthy one, and one day we will have to do the same with him. All I can say is I better be there Mom.

So to leave on a good note,

Benjamin wanted to remind all of you that the Giants kicked some Cowboy booty the other night