cello rhymes with jello

I've never been much of an animal person. That is an understatement. Although, maybe it is just that animals have never been much of an Emily person. That sounds about right. Regardless of who is not fond of whom, pictures of snuggly fluffy baby animals do nothing for me. Petting animals does not make me feel calm or stress-free. And cats, don't even get me started about cats. I used to sit on the couch with a pillow on my lap and push them off if they tried to jump up on me. This was after one night as I sat on the couch minding my own business and one of our cats just reached over and scratched my head. Caaaats... but anyways, back to where we were. Emily + animals = nothing.

But then, during the summer of 1999 an ad in the paper caught my mom's eye. "Sanctified Puppies" it read--a dog had given birth under a church and the puppies needed to go. While my brother and I were singing away at Bible Camp, mom went and picked up a sanctified female puppy. It was way too early for the puppies to be away from their mom. She was the tiniest little puppy. The Moore family, who had been strictly a cat family, now had a dog, Cello. No, not jello. Cello. Like the instrument.

Moore family rule #344: cats are named after composers and dogs are named after musical terms or instruments.

Today is a sad day--Cello has to be put down. She had gotten very sick what seemed like very quickly. We've been holding on because well, she's Cello! She's the last Moore child! The third Moore daughter! But after last week we all knew, Cello was in too much pain. She could barely walk, she didn't eat. She looked like she had aged 50 years within a few weeks. 

I never thought much about this moment, the moment when Cello would not longer be around. We've gone through lots of cats during my lifetime and I was never upset about them. But that dog somehow managed to up and catch my affection and make me love her. And for that, Cello Moore should win some kind of medal because Emily Moore does not like animals (have I said that before?)

Cello, I will miss coming home and having you get so excited to see us. Your humans! Coming home!

I will miss the way that no one was good enough for you except a few special people. I somehow made  the cut. 

I will miss the way you veraciously barked at that brown UPS truck, even when you were riding in the car. 

I will miss the way you whined like a baby every time Mr. Diddy's truck pulled into the driveway. 

I will miss the way you rolled around in the grass for what seemed like hours ONLY when I walked you. You sneaky dog. 

I will miss the way you were attached to MC's ankles like you were trying to suck up and win the fav child award. Nice try. 

I will miss the way you got so excited every time we packed our bags because you were sure you were going on a car ride. 

I will miss the way you were scared of your own farts.

I will miss the way you tried to hide and make yourself invisible any time there was a storm. Or a loud noise.

I will miss the way you hid in the corner whenever you had the cone of shame on your head. 

I will miss the way you would slide across the hardwood floors whenever Joseph would play with you. 

I will miss the way you let me french braid your fur. You were such a fashion forward dog.

I will miss the way you wagged your tail so hard it sounded like a whip hitting the floor.

I will miss the way you always tried to steal my space heater every winter. 

I will miss MC calling you her daughter.

But mostly, I will miss knowing you are there. Curled up on the floor. Loving us no matter what.

Cello Moore, we love you.
p.s.-All Dogs DO Go To Heaven