O Stella! Star!


Goodbye little Stella Bean!
Today we put down my sweet little Stella.. When they Xrayed her lungs yesterday she had very little function left. A fast metastasized cancer they think. She hasn't been well, she's old,yesterday she ate and today she refused, it's time.
Stella got her name from a PJ Harvey song "O Stella" which has long, long been a favorite of mine. I saw PJ Harvey at Jabberjaw or at Al's bar and a couple of other times in LA when I lived there 15 years ago, and at the old La Luna when I moved here to Portland. I used to live at the Malvern which was a short walking distance from La Luna ... mmm goodtimes.... Lots of cider.
( in fact - if you knew Carly and Micheal before they were the Weezer Merch Girls - contact me- I still talk to Nicole)

I got a job, I worked like a dog, I bought a house, I fell in love and moved out to the 'burbs.

Stella was my last connection to the younger Portland/LA me, the free, breezy, punk rocker that danced nearly naked at Mudhoney( in LA it gets really hot and in my defense the boys took their shirts off - and I was going thru a seriously radical feminist phase- can you say "riot grrrl"?) . That girl who danced for hours and hours at clubs, and thought nothing of driving home on the freeways late at night shirtless. Come to think of it I spent a great deal of time in my 20's in LA - in various states of night time public undress. To look at me now, a fat old housewife living in a very conservative part of Washington County you'd never think I was as wild as I was.

Stella was bossy and determined and reminded me of myself in my youth. She looked at me at the MultCo Dog Rescue and said "Bitch! you're NOT leaving without ME! Get me out of here!"
I didn't ask anyone if they wanted to live with her.... I just brought her and Molly home.

Please, in memorial, listen to this song?



Thanks for all your nice thoughts and generous support. A lot of you have been really sweet. I'm grateful.
Quilters Rock!

9 comments:

Jill said...

Yes it works. Everything OK?

GrandMa Red said...

I am SOOOO sorry!!!

Joy said...

I am so sorry about Stella.. I know too well what it is like.. I still miss my guy that I had for 17 years, he left us 5 years ago. They are such a big part of our lives.. and it sounds like yours was pretty wondeful *grin*

What a doll Stella is.

Jill said...

So, So sorry Rachel. It's never easy to lose a member of your family. Will be thinking of you!

Gail Lizette said...

Sorry to hear about Stella... I'm glad you were there for each other and able to share a good life together :)

Malinda said...

What a nice pup and good memories. I have lost 2 dogs this year. It is so hard. But we now have 2 young ones from the SPCA and life begins anew. Wishing you a lighter heart soon.

jacquie said...

oh rachel, i'm so sorry. i'll be thinking of you. it's so hard to lose good friends.

Christina Lane | The Sometimes Crafter said...

This is what happens when you get behind on reading blogs, you miss out on important things like this. So sorry to hear of Stella's I'll health and death. It sounds like she lived a long life and had a great one with you.

Ginny said...

This brought tears to my eyes. It is so hard to let go of our beloved friends. They are truly our children. Hugs to you.
Ginny