I have so many memories that involve Lacey. The story of Lacey really begins before I was born. My family got her before I was born, which means Lacey was about a year older than me. My family got Lacey for free because a family was trying to get rid of her. We soon found out the reason why. Lacey was quite the troublesome dog. She always ran away, she jumped over fences, she dug holes under the fence, she made the mailman hate her. She was trouble. But oh, she was so much fun.
Lacey was always there while growing up. She was someone to cuddle with, someone to play with, someone to talk to. She loved going up north to my Grandparents with us. My Grandparents live in a private cove and there is a gate that is maybe about a mile away or less from their house that you have to enter a code to get in. Whenever we got to that gate, we would let Lacey out of the car and she would race us to my Grandparents. She loved it up there. Exploring in the woods, swimming in the lake, running down the shore. Her favorite thing to do when we were younger was to chase rocks that we threw into the lake. We would throw a rock and she would run in after it and bring a rock back, whether it was the rock we threw or not. As Lacey got older, I remember her walking around my Grandparents house over and over again. It was like she was acting as a guard dog.
At our old house, we had this cable that ran across our yard, with another cable that could roll across the whole thing. We had to hook Lacey up to this cable so that she would stay in our yard. When Lacey was younger she could jump OVER the backyard fence. And if she wasn't jumping over the fence, she was digging holes under the fence to escape. I'm not really sure why Lacey always ran away. I know she loved us, so it's not like she was trying to get away from us. I think that she just liked the adventure and thrill it gave her. The neighbors hated Lacey and threatened the call the police every time she got out. The mailman hated Lacey and carried that spray stuff to keep her away from him. I remember him yelling at my Mom about Lacey one time. Though the mailman was always nice to us kids... Well that cord did it's job. It kept Lacey in the backyard most of the time, but one of my favorite memories was when Lacey dug a hole under the fence and crawled into our neighbors yard, WHILE she was still connected to the cable. It was really funny and we all laughed about it.
Even though Lacey ran away all the time, I think we usually had fun catching her. I remember one day trying to catch her. She looked at me and we're all like "Come here Lacey!!!" And she came running towards us! 'Wow, can it be this easy?' we thought. She was smiling as she came running towards us and right at the last minute, she turned around and ran the other way! So of course, we were after her again and trying to catch her. As Lacey grew older, she became more mature in a way. Of course, she was slowing down in her old age. She hardly ever ran off anymore and if she did, it was a lot easier to catch her. She spent a lot of her time just laying around on the couch.
I loved Lacey. She had been in our family for so long it was hard to say goodbye. But it was time. She could barely eat, she could barely walk, she left messes in the house. She was old. So on September 27th, 2007, when she was 17 years old, we took her to the vet to put her down. I can't remember if any of the kids went with Mom to the vet, but I think most of us just said goodbye to her at our house. It was easier that way.
When I think about Lacey, I don't think about her being sick and old. I think of her smiling face, her adventuresome spirit and her constant mischief. I still miss Lacey. I always will. She was the first family dog that I ever had so it would be hard not to miss her. Lacey was not just a dog. To me, Lacey was my older sister. She was a friend. Someone I could confide in. I loved Lacey.
