The life and times of Molly Baroni

  It's been a sad day.  Molly, our 11 (I thought she was 12) year old dalmatian had to be put to sleep today.  I knew the day was coming, but never having had to make this decision before secretly prayed she would die in her sleep like all of our other dogs have.  

  We adopted Molly in February 1998 after learning that b/c she was deaf, the pet store in the Burlington mall wanted to place her with a family.  A friend of ours worked there (thanks for thinking of us Trishadee!), and knew that we could handle a dog with this type of disability since Chelsea is also deaf, and we were starting to look for a companion for Chelsea.  We fell in love instantly with this tiny little puppy and took her home.  Chelsea and Molly acted like real sisters right from the start....Molly would antagonize Chelsea by biting her ears and bothering her in general.  One of her favorite things to do would be to back up and sit on Chelsea, usually straddling her right behind her head.  They both would just sit there, like it was the most normal thing in the world!  Even until just recently, when Molly would have a burst of energy she always grabbed one of Chelsea's back legs.  Why?  Who knows?  That was just a Molly thing.  Molly was pretty much known for not being the smartest dog to ever grace the Dalmatian breed, but what she lacked in social graces she more than made up for with her character.  She chased her tail almost incessantly some days, waaaaay after she had graduated from puppy days.  And, she was the best cuddler.  Since she was never very big, she always was able to curl up right in front of you on the couch or in bed and would squeeze herself into a tiny ball and stay there all night.  

Molly and Chelsea travelled with us all over before we became parents to children.  They frequented many AF Band of Liberty concerts, went camping, made the 24 hours Christmas drive with us too many times to count!, moved from Boston, to San Antonio, to Florida, to Oklahoma, and then finally to Mississippi.  They loved to travel and Molly would always just curl up in her crate and sleep, occasionally sitting up to look out the window and watch the world go by.

We made the decision to leave Molly with my mom and dad in Petal when we moved to Hawaii b/c I just didn't know how either she or Chelsea would handle the stress of moving "overseas".  I'm so thankful to my mom and dad for taking such good care of the dogs and always loving them, even when they would grate on your last nerve.  My daddy even dug a grave for Molly, so she can always be "home", right next to cocoa.  

I said my goodbyes to Molly when we were home in October b/c I realized then that this day was coming.  She has been in mine and Eric's lives for most of our married life and it's really sad to know that piece is no longer with us.  We love you, Molly Anne.  May you rest in peace.  I hope you know that we love you and made this decision so you wouldn't have to suffer any more.  We'll miss you.........