Rare News Desk
NEW YORK CITY, NY — Lauren Fern Watt and her English Mastiff, Gizelle, had been through a lot over the years –college, boyfriends and even a big move from Tennessee to New York. So, when her beloved, 160-lb “roommate” was diagnosed with bone cancer, she was devastated.
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According to Watt’s blog on lifewithdogs.tv, the vet told her Gizelle only had a few months to live.
“My sobbing seemed unstoppable, but Gizelle was sensitive and didn’t like to see me cry,” Watt wrote. “I had to be strong.”
So she chose not to wallow, and she set out to make a bucket list for her longtime companion.
“It was my mission for us to indulge and explore life’s joys,” she wrote. “We’d escape the city and search for waterfalls, cook lobster and nap in the grass. We’d jump in the ocean without towels, just to enjoy the sun drying us, and never stress about details like sand in the car.”
The bucket list was extensive and full of adventures. First, there was riding in a canoe, a tenuous process for an “easily spooked” Gizelle.
“Gizelle and I always used to watch ‘The Little Mermaid’ together, and a favorite scene was the one where Ariel is chauffeured in a row boat by Prince Eric,” Watt wrote.
After some trying, Watt managed to get the large and concerned dog into the canoe and says she thinks even Gizelle loved the adventure as much as she did.
Then there was a visit to the buzzing Times Square. Watt wisely planned the trip in the early morning to avoid the chaos of tourist crowding.
And, they cooked lobster in Maine.
“Before cooking them at a friend’s beach house, I freed the lobsters to tap across the kitchen floor with Gizelle,” Watt wrote. “She sniffed at them like they were her dog pals, and I almost felt bad for how short-lived this friendship would be.”
Watt said though Gizelle seemed to hit it off with the crustaceans, she didn’t turn her nose up at delicious, buttery lobster.
They also, ate ice cream on a dock, went on a road trip, cuddled a lot and went to a party where Gizelle met a cute boy dog.
But it was when she and Gizelle paid a visit to the beach earlier this month that Watt finally started to come to terms with losing her furry friend.
“It was then I realized that I was okay with letting Gizelle go,” she wrote. “Just like I had faith that the trees would sprout lime green leaves again and kids with yellow buckets would splash in the water once more, I had faith I’d carry Gizelle with me…I knew she would live on through my experiences, and that I gave her the best life I could. And that to me was infinitely healing.”
Gizelle was not expected to live past Christmas, but has carried on. So, Watt is sharing her story with others.
“Doing a bucket list for Gizelle not only helped me cope with losing her, it was also one wild ride,” Watt wrote. “It helped me live in the present and see life for what it truly is: a sweet, simple, precious adventure.”
See photos of all of Watt and Gizelle’s adventures on her blog.
