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Mary Anne and Kevin had to put their dog Ellie to sleep yesterday.

I’ve known Ellie since she arrived in M and K’s lives in 2006 or so. She wasn’t my dog, but she and I got along very well for most of that time.

(Her name was really Elinor, but most of us almost always called her Ellie.)

I enjoyed petting her, and she enjoyed being petted. I enjoyed taking her for walks around the block, until she got too old for that to be fun for her. I enjoyed watching her explore all the neighborhood smells. I occasionally ran a little way along the sidewalk with her.

As I wrote in a post about Ellie in 2021: Time was, when I arrived at Mary Anne’s house, I would be greeted by a great galumphing, the clatter of dog nails on flooring as Ellie heard me come in and began a wild rumpus, yelping as she galloped toward me down the hallway, then leaping up, tail wagging furiously. It was always delightful to be greeted so enthusiastically by someone who was so thoroughly happy to see me.

Occasionally I would play with her in an energetic mode—playing tug-of-war with one of her many dog toys, chasing her/being chased by her around the dining room table.

In calmer moods, she often gazed imploringly at me, pleading for skritches. And/or food. I often sat down on the floor with her and provided skritches. And belly rubs. And pettings. And sometimes feedings.

If I stopped (to type on my computer, for example), she would put her nose under my arm and lift, to remind me to get back to the important business of petting her.

In more recent years, as she got older, she and I didn’t always get along as well. But even so, I think it was soothing for both of us when I sat down by her and petted her.

When I visited Oak Park in April, we humans knew that Ellie didn’t have much time left, so I said my goodbyes. There were pettings, and feedings, and sitting in the sun on the porch. She lifted her nose and sniffed the air, as if to smell all the neighborhood smells that were going by on the wind.

I’ll miss her.

For more about Ellie, and about her death, see Mary Anne’s Facebook post. For some photos of Ellie from 2006 through 2023, see my photo album.