Darla's World

On September 8, 2023, our precious April died peacefully at home. She was lovingly surrounded by Josh (her Dad), me (her Momma), little Lucy-sister, Grandma, Bepa, and Uncle Adam. Our hearts are hurting as we process the loss of her sweet presence in our lives. I’ve struggled to memorialize her in words because how do you sum up the life of a loving companion like April?

a tribute from my husband, Josh, April’s Dad 🙂

(Click here to read on Facebook and comment.)
A pure soul, a full heart. Although scarred physically and mentally from years of abuse as a young pup, April’s strength was an incredible thing to witness, to soak in. Her love poured out freely to anyone in her stratosphere.

On Friday, September 8, 2023, our little Shmapey girl took her final breath. We miss her terribly, but the pain she struggled with and fought to keep from us no longer hurts her.

April’s story is one of novels and Disney movies. My words are a memorial for April, yes. But the inspiration it holds is transcendent. Let’s go back to when Darla and I first met the sweetest pup in the world.

It was love at first sight. We were looking for puppies at an adoption event, but someone asked us, “Have you met April yet?”

This happy, gregarious girl was in a crate with the wiggles and a huge pitbull smile. The ghosts of a brutal past were evident in her crooked spine, straight leg, bare skin spots, chipped tooth, and nicked ears. The sagging belly was proof that she was the victim of backyard breeding. She was the ideal physical form of an American Staffordshire terrier before humans attempted to suck it out of her. Still, at the moment we met, she was perfect. Despite it all, she had a joyful spirit evident from the instant she pushed me down and kissed me. We were immediately under her spell.

Then, the details of her past became clear.

Over a year before we met April, she’d escaped her abusers, but then an automobile hit and dragged her across asphalt for some distance. When Detroit homicide detectives found her two weeks later, she hid beside a dead body in a garage. She had road rash everywhere, a crushed leg festering with gangrene, terrible swelling, cuts, a collapsed lung, and was emaciated. The detectives called Home Furever Rescue and immediately took her to the Wilson Veterinary Hospital, where she was operated on and rehabbed back to health over many months. Since then, she’d been cared for by Ramona Jocys, an awesome foster mom, and her crew of rescue dogs. Yet it was a year of noes when it came to finding her forever home. I’m sure the scarred-up pitbull scared away many suitors, but we like to think she was just waiting for us.

As we prepared to adopt her, Darla and I figured that she might not live a long life due to her past and injuries, but we would spoil the hell out of her for the next few years!

That was almost ten years ago.

Her will to live, to thrive, was awe-inspiring. Her anxiety was understandably off the charts, but gradually, her tail began to wag high instead of getting tucked. The cowering slowly disappeared as April realized that the bad people were gone for good and that we were her family and protectors. As a result of her leg injuries, she had a thick metal plate screwed into her bones. After falling into a hole, X-rays found her CCLs were non-existent. She had three operations to remove cancer, after which the vet said we might have at least another year with her. That was four years ago. She fought through several bouts of vestibular disease, which gave her severe vertigo, inability to walk, and vomiting. Internally, she was fighting through multiple issues. Overall, we tried every potential treatment/cure/relief agent we responsibly could over the last decade; much of our job (which most often was done by Darla) was keeping our four-legged-monk as healthy and happy as possible. We needed her, and she wanted to live with every fiber of her being.

All that terrible stuff is just there to say how STRONG April was. She didn’t reveal pain, ever. We usually figured it out while she actively hid it as best she could. She loved and was loved by every person she crossed paths with. Hell, she was a rock star! The first time we took her to a dog park, someone caught us on the way in and exclaimed, “It’s April!!” The community had rallied around her during her recovery, and she even had her own Facebook page to raise funds. She’d get spotted around town, and the way she’d touched so many lives was on full display.

April had zero idea of what it meant to play. It’s difficult to imagine a puppy being so mistreated that she never understood fetch, running to and fro, or catching a single thing thrown her way. The glee of unhinged romping with other dogs was also sadly non-existent. We would get so excited if she showed just a sliver of play, of which I can count the times it happened on my fingers.

But what she missed in tomfoolery she made up for in expert-level cuddling, face licking, napping, and eating. “Food is Love” is a phrase (more or less) she used on Darla and me quite often. Every day at 5 p.m., she knew it was time for dinner, which, of course, was cooked with care by Darla. There was no forgetting dinner. Ever.

Shmapey loved riding in the Demon, too. In place of the car’s rear seats, I’d made a soft platform/bed for her and little sister Lucy (her ride-or-die Maltipoo sis), and so many times I’d look back to see a 55 lb parrot looking over my left shoulder. Especially at a drive-thru.

Lucy was her touchstone. Within a few months of adding April to our family, a friend’s unforeseen circumstances led us to take in this little ball of white lightning, too. April was a little anxious and still not acclimated to our house, but as soon as Lu arrived, she clearly just needed a partner to show her the ropes. They were best friends immediately. Lucy was the 10 pounds of courage “big sis” April needed. When an “accident” occurred on the floor, April lay sheepishly on the couch while Lucy stood defiantly in front of her, walling us off. When docile April wanted water, Lucy would loudly flip the bowl to grab our attention, then leave the scene, taking nothing for herself. On emergency vet runs for Shmapey, little Lu would sit up sternly in front of her, understanding sis was not well and needed protecting. Lucy would be the one begging to go outside, even when only April needed to go out.

Lucy is struggling mightily right now; they’d been a crime-fighting duo since 2014, and just like that, it was over. We’re mourning with her while also heaping love on her.

It’s a long story, but a disaster at the loft had us living with Darla’s parents for over two years. Bepa and Grammie were always there for the girls. April would proudly catch rats and pigeons for Bepa, and while Darla freaked out, her dad just gushed praise on April, her giant smile revealing pieces of rat in her teeth. She received rewards of her favorite treats: the big tomatoes and fresh green beans in Bepa’’s garden. Loving routines as she did, she snuggled up nightly with Grandma to watch HGTV or the Halmark Channel. She adored her Grandma and Bepa.

The end was so hard because April was the comeback queen. Like John Wick, she always fought back from the brink to survive and thrive. And she never stopped fighting. Darla literally gave her 24/7 care for several months. She was getting around ok, but often needed assistance as arthritis set in and her muscles deteriorated on top of other health issues. Shampey continued to love her people, her sister, her food, her schedule, and her refills of the water cup next to her bed. She even made it on one last family road trip to Saugatuck this summer! But when for every step forward, there was a step back, then two steps back, it became clear that the glorious sunshine that was April, was setting. Those last few days, her smile had faded, and she was very tired, yet peaceful. She moved to her next life at home in her bed, surrounded by her beloved family.

All hail St. April, the patron saint of abused and abandoned dogs everywhere.

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Below is a work in progress from me. I am struggling to put it together, but feel free to read what I have so far. Lots of pics and stories to come.

Meeting April – June 13, 2014

The day was fresh and bright, a perfect morning for an adoption event with Home Furever, the rescue where we adopted the original Brown Dog, Woodson.

The adoptable dogs were ready in their crates, waiting for volunteers and potential new families to come and take them for a walk or play with them on the grass. I was drawn to a sweet little girl with a sign on the door of her crate that said, “April was found at the scene of a homicide and is believed to have been hit by a car. She was emaciated and had wounds so bad the doctors were doubtful they could save her front leg. With proper care and attention, she recovered, and her leg was saved. April has a fun personality and is always happy to play.”

At just about the same time, a volunteer asked Josh, “Did you meet April yet?”

We were told she was a little shy around men. However, before we knew it, a beautiful brown dog with a metal plate in her leg was gently tackling, kissing, pibbling, and claiming Josh. I was off to the side and immediately felt tears in my eyes because I knew our life was about to change. April would become part of our family.

For nearly a year, she’d patiently waited for us to come along. And during that year she was lovingly cared for and loved by her foster mom, Ramona Jocys, along with other volunteers and friends of Home Furever Rescue.

April’s rescue & RECOVERY

April 1st is April’s name day. While we don’t know her actual birthday it is the day that she was rescued in 2013. It’s the day she became April. It’s the day that a good human saw her will to survive and honored it. It’s the day she found safety and security after so much suffering.

A post from Home Furever’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/AprilsStory

ADOPTING APRIL

And from then until her last breath, she gave us 1,000,000 x the love that she received as a rescue and foster dog! How lucky we are to have adopted this beautiful girl into our family.

Meeting lucy

They defended one another – and would sit in front of the other if they knew she got in trouble.

part of the family

Grandma and Bepa and kids.

Travel & love of cars

Jeeps

her favorite things

love.

Food. Food is love. Momma cooked her meals.

Schedules.

smelling flowers

starting at the people she loved and being very very extremely close.

Bepa “bite my ear” and “April love”

CANCER

Trooper!

Last days

last meal

April Love by Pat Boone

“April love is for the very young
Every star’s a wishing star that shines for you
April love is all the seven wonders
One little kiss can tell you this is true
Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers
Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet
But April love can slip right through your fingers
So if she’s the one, don’t let her run away”