Salsa

2003 - 2019

In November 2004, I launched a campaign in my home. It consisted of me emailing a photo to my husband multiple times a day, hidden behind a link that would say something like "I think our boys need this. What do you think?" or "Looks like a good workout!" The photo was from the Guilford County Animal Shelter and showed an 18 month old female mixed breed Shepherd named Salsa. I loved her fiercely the moment I saw her photo. My husband however took a little convincing, which is why I set about Salsa-rolling his inbox. I did so for 48 days.

On Dec 23, 2004, he brought me the best gift ever: Salsa.

She instantly became my dog, my sweetheart, my girl. She snoozed next to me late in the evening, and she happily rode in the car on the dumbest errands. It quickly became clear she thought we were a team, that the children were a shared responsibility and I was a horrible mother who kept losing them at school. The looks she gave me when I dropped them off would melt ice. When the oldest was in first grade he painted a picture of Salsa, and no artist could have captured her Salsa-ness better.

She treated eating as the greatest activity ever and believed sprinklers and hoses were toys not tools. She doubled as a vacuum for any dropped food and could hear the fridge being opened from clear across the yard. She danced every time she entered the kitchen, though it was really more of a meringue than a salsa. If the piano in the living room were played, she crooned while gazing into the middle distance, she being, after all a showgirl at heart and the last surviving member of the Singing Madoodle Sisters.

Salsa is survived by Roxy (cat) and William (wildly inbred Shelty), who is very confused and futilely attempting to herd Roxy in his grief.

The vet was astounded to find Salsa still kicking at 16 and a half, but I think she was holding on until "her" babies were grown up enough for her liking. Her boys were also with her until the end as was my husband and all join me in mourning her although they recognize that she was my heart.

Goodbye, Salsa. Thank you for all of it. 💙