Saying Goodbye

The last of the leaves left on the lawn.

The trees are bare, branches mostly. My white hydrangea is just a bunch of sticks. Things are turning brown, the colors fading as we settle into winter's black and white and gray world. Snow is in the forecast for the end of the week and I can feel my body clenching at the thought of cold temps coming in.

Had a bit of adventure at work today. 

I was minding my own business, manning the children's desk and quietly working on a report when the internal phone rang. One of my co-workers was on the other end and needed me to find our custodian. The director was at the post office and her car died. She needed him to come and help her get back to the library. That was not good news.

Our custodian was on the roof.

Cleaning out the drains before the snow later this week. 

Uh-oh. I have to go up on the roof.

There's a metal ladder in the fire stairs with about a dozen rungs. 

Straight up. 

I tried climbing it a couple weeks ago when the contractors were installing the solar panels. I wanted to see how many they were putting in and what they looked like. I made it up about three rungs before I got scared and came back down. 

I don't do heights very well.

But I needed to get the custodian so I had no choice. One rung at a time I went up. I tried calling his name every few rungs to see if he could hear me. Nothing. I had to keep going until I got to the top. Then I had to LET GO of the ladder and grab onto the roof to pull myself up and over the lip around the opening. I am not the most graceful person and I was terrified I was going to trip myself and fall backward. I went super slow. I think my Nan would have passed me if she were doing this. I made it out onto the roof and walked around, looking for the custodian and calling out his name every few moments. 

The library has several rooftops because of an addition. He was all the way out on one of the further rooftops. 

Of course.

As I walked out further onto the roof, it made me think of Bert from Mary Poppins. I wanted to start singing "Chim Chim Cheree" but I restrained myself. I didn't walk close to the edge AT ALL. I hurried along to find him and then turned right around and scooted back towards the ladder. But not before I looked at the solar panels. I still wanted to see what those looked like. After a quick peek, down I went.

I got one of my feet on the first rung, hung onto the lip of the roof and stepped down. One rung at a time, painfully slow. The custodian was giving me great encouragement and telling me to be careful and go slow. 

Don't worry. It's hard to move fast when your fingers won't unpry themselves from the rungs.

Unpry. I think I made that word up. But I'm a librarian so I'm allowed to. Tra la la.

So, in the end, I'm alive to tell the tale and the custodian went to rescue the director. All is well in Gotham City.

Lucy, aka Lucy Juice.

Sissy's wonderful companion and the girls guardian.

They had to put her down yesterday. She got sick over the summer and the vet told them she had a form of cancer that was not treatable. They didn't know how much time they would have with her so they've been spoiling her and loving her for the past few months. She took a turn for the worse in the past week or so and stopped eating. Not even steak. I got a message from Sissy yesterday that it was time. Lucy was tired.

I burst into tears. 

I think if you look up the word "love" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Lucy. She had the sweetest disposition and smiled so darn much. She loved to dance when you scratched her back in the right spot. She would nudge your hand to encourage you to pet her and she loved to lean up against you. 

I remember when Sissy and her family first got her as a puppy. They brought her down to our house and Jack wanted nothing to do with her. He was an old man at the time and she just had too much energy for him. She would try to play with him and he would get up and walk away from her, not even giving her a second glance. That didn't discourage her though! She just kept trying. I loved her spirit.

Fast forward a few years and now she's the old lady and Sissy brings home a puppy, Penny. Lucy had just about the same reaction as Jack. I often wondered if she remembered him and his lack of interest in her puppy shenanigans. But eventually, Lucy and Penny became fast friends. Penny will be lost without her for a while. 

My heart just hurts right now. For Lucy. For Sissy. For E and D. For Penny. And for me and the Man. Since we lost Jack, we've had a pet free home. Lucy became our dog, too, and we loved taking care of her when Sissy would travel. She would come for visits when Sissy and the girls came over. We could let her out in the backyard and she never ran off. She was such a good girl. She will be missed so much.

But never forgotten. Rest well, sweet girl. You are loved.