.Sampson and Delilah

When I first brought Delilah home to be a companion for my other beagle, Sampson, I had no idea what I was getting into. Sampson suffers from epilepsy and I thought having a friend around during the day would keep him calm and help to prevent seizures. She would sit and Sampson would just lick and clean her ears. (Something he does now to Ali his new sister.) Lilah taught Sampson how to howl...before I got her, Sampson was a mute beagle. He had never heard another dog bark before so he had no reason to do so. In many ways Lilah and Sampson were meant for each other. They would run around the house and just sit curled up on the bench in the window and watch for their humans. Sampson chose me as his human and to this day he is my little baby. Lilah on the other hand chose my father as her human. She would sit right outside his bedroom door and just watch him doing things around the house. She was a pretty smart dog, that spot allowed her to see everything that was going on in the house without actually getting up. Sampson would sit there with her sometimes and they would cuddle. When Sampson would have a seizure, Lilah would lay next to him and wait patiently for it to be over. She would then stick by his side for the rest of the day. Lilah was my baby girl. She was a handful but I loved every bit of that dog.

When Lilah started to grow a tumor on her throat, Sampson started to clean her ears more and more. He would sleep with her and make sure she was ok. When it came time to say goodbye to her and send her to doggie heaven, I wasn't able to be there. I look back on it and wish I had spent more time with her and Sampson. (I still wish I could have both of my beagles with me now) I had just started my second year of teaching and was headed out of town for a field trip. My twin went to the house to see the dogs on a Thursday, and everything seemed fine. She said they were playing and Lilah seemed ok. When my father got home, he noticed that her breathing was getting really bad. The tumor was slowly blocking her airway (it was inoperable)  I always tell myself that once she saw my twin, she thought "ok, my mommy got to see me one more time, so its ok for me to go now." She passed away that night. This March marked the fourth year I haven't had that crazy lovable dog in my life. Once my dad came home without Lilah, Sampson knew something was wrong. He became very destructive and in my eyes he was depressed and missed his sister. It wasn't till about six months later, I finally agreed that he needed another beagle in his life. Though Ali will never replace Lilah, she has a great way of reminding me that Lilah is still around. Ali has some of Lilah's characteristics and she and Sampson love each other. So in honor of my little baby girl... here is a story my dad sent me in an email a long time ago:

Last weekend, I cleaned my bathroom as usual and placed everything
on the step of the bathtub, as usual while the vanity dries.  Later, I
hear some chewing and it doesn't sound like the normal bone chewing.
I go to the source and there's Miss Lilah in her dinning room nest
with my tooth brush in her paws like an ice cream cone chewing away;
before I get to her I come across the tooth paste with 2-3 inches
squirted onto the rug--the brush still works, just had to change the
brush head--but it is scarred.  One would think I would return
everything to the vanity, but I didn't--heard more chewing of plastic
later and found Miss Lilah in her nest with my deodorant in her paws.
 She and/or Samson continue to attack the dried weed arrangements...a
couple of weeks ago, I vacuumed, put the vacuum in the closet and went
about my business.  Next day my child tells me she found Samson and
Lilah in her bed with the hose attachments to the hand held
vacuum--you got to close the closet all the way.  If Samson can get
his beagle nose and sometimes a paw between or under something, he'll
get in it.  Can't get angry with them, 'cause it's sometimes my fault.

Be kind today