Bye Bye Bushington

     It’s been a few years and Bushington has mellowed out.  He gave up his PDA and stopped trying to run away.   That is after all the headaches he caused which aren’t even included in this story.   Like once, we took Bushington to the airport and unbeknownst to us, he had a hidden suitcase, and our family boarded the airplane with Bushington in a cage under my seat.  Now, most dogs whimper when a plane takes off because they’re scared, but not Bushington.  God forbid he should just be a normal dog.  No, Bushington, while our family is asleep on the plane, MacGyver’s his way out of the cage with a flat-head screwdriver, unpacks his secret suitcase which has a parachute inside, and tries to Jimi the lock to the passenger door to the airplane, because he thinks it will be fun.   He says he always wanted skydive.  

    Or the time Bushington found rocket skates online and leapt from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other, one inch from missing his landing.   But now, Bushington is mellowing out.   Instead of spending time on his PDA, he’s spending time on the green leather couch, attempting to dig a hole, curling into a ball, and falling asleep.  

    Bushington ran away several times, but, with arthritic legs, seems unable to climb the stairs.  He even has incontinence and puts his tail between his legs and looks down since Bushington knows he’s supposed to go outside.  He has other problems too, like not coming when our family calls him, not because he’s being rebellious, but looking around blankly and wondering why Bushington isn’t coming.   Who’s Bushington. We had a family discussion in the basement again, but this time, Bushington is allowed to come.  

“It’s not easy, kids, but if you were old and had a full life, wouldn’t you want to go peacefully?” Dad asked.

Daddy, Mommy, Sean, Bob, and Kathleen all cried and yes, Daddy’s do cry, but the family agreed it was time to call the vet to do what needed to be done.  Mommy and Daddy set up an appoint for April 1, 1995 at 2 pm for Bushington’s euthanasia.

*

The children and Mommy and Daddy spent a lot of time talking to Bushington.  Each saying their goodbyes in their own way:

Bob did his best to make Bob’s last memory of Bushington be a happy one so he asked Mommy and Daddy if Bob could let Bushington play on his PDA and they said it would be ok.  Bob asked Bushington if there was anything Bushington wished he had done in Bushington’s life which would have made it more special.  Bob knew Bushington wished he had had his own wife, children, house, and other things humans had, but since things had changed, Bob wanted to know if there was something simpler Bushington wanted, like a chicken breast sandwich.  Bob pushed over the PDA, but Bushington smelled the PDA and stared at Bob with a blank, empty face, and didn’t type anything.

Sean got Bushington next.  Sean hugged Bushington and placed Bushington on the floor.  He knew Bushington hated his cage and wanted to let Bushington go wherever he wanted to in the house.  But, because of Bushington’s arthritis, Bushington sat on the carpet and looked around and then laid down.  So, Sean took Bushington outside to enjoy different aromas like grass, sunflowers, mint, etc., but Bushington went under the shade and laid down again.  Sean apologized to Bushington for not being more careful and for 

Bushington being hurt by the car earlier in Bushington’s life.

Kathleen hugged Bushington and cried.  Bushington licked her tears and did his best to hug her back. She said things through her crying but neither Bushington nor the family knew what Kathleen was saying.  She hugged Bushington tight for twenty minutes.

Mommy and Daddy talked to Bushington, too.  They both apologized for the times they had to punish Bushington when he was bad, like when they put him upstairs in the cage when he applied for colleges.  But, throughout all the speeches, Bushington stared blankly back, like he couldn’t comprehend English.

*

Then, inevitably, April 1st, 2:00 pm came and the family went into the vet’s office.  The vet, Dr. Samuel, listened to the family’s concerns and understood.  Dr. Samuel told the family about the calls Bushington made to the office to reverse Bushington’s neutering, which Dr. Samuel now laughed about, but after Dr. Samuel gave Daddy some forms, Dr. Samuel disinfected an area of Bushington’s fur and placed the hypodermic needle in.  Bushington screamed, which we weren’t expecting, but then there was pure silence.  Dr. Samuel gave us time alone with Bushington’s corpse, but then, we went back in our car and the vet took Bushington away to be creamated and said the ashes should be ready in two weeks.

*

Then, though, things started happening.  Two nights after Bushington had been put to sleep, Bob woke everyone up at 2 am screaming.  Daddy went to Bob’s room (with a wooden bat for protection)  to find out what was wrong.  When Daddy comes in and Bob is shaking.  

“What?  What’s wrong?”  Daddy asks.

But Bob is shivering, unable to speak, and points at the window.  Daddy looks out but doesn’t see anything.  Mommy comes in and asks Bobby what’s wrong:

“I . . . I saw him out in the bushes. . .” Bob says.

“Saw who?” Daddy asks.

Bob has the same blank look Bushington had when the children talked to me and Bob says, “Bushington”.

Mommy and Daddy talk to Bob and the three of them agree Bob must have had a nightmare, but over the next week, all three children see Bushington outside their windows or by the sidewalk, smiling, where he used to go potty.  Now, Bushington was a sneaky dog who escaped cages, leashes, and other things, but escaping a lethal injection is impossible, especially since the whole family and the vet were there.

*

Then, one day the phone rings and it’s Dr. Samuel.  Apparently, the United States Postal Service, somewhere between Dr. Samuel’s office and the crematorium, had misplaced Bushington, but not to worry, Dr. Samuel or the Post Office would find Bushington and then the family would get the ashes.  The appearances of Bushington kept happening in the family’s neighborhood and Bushington became synonymous with 2PAC.  Maybe Bushington didn’t have dementia and isn’t dead.  Maybe he’s just trying to fool us so he can get unneutered and buy his own home.  Maybe this was Bushington’s way of running away again, maybe.  Dr. Samuel never did find the ashes.