Josh, Anne-Marie, and Aylia Colwell’s Gazette

Day 4 (Thursday, July 5):

I get up early and walk the dogs. Daisy is happy for the walk, but walks
very slowly as has been the case for some time now. She almost never
relieves herself on the walks anymore either, and today is no exception.
After breakfast Anne-Marie and I go to our house early to be there when
Todd, the truck driver for National, and his loaders arrive. We expect the
packers from the local moving company at 9:00. Two of them will accompany
me to my office at the University of Colorado to pack everything there while
a third stays at the house.

Todd and his crew arrive on time and begin working on packing furniture.
The packers arrive around 9:45 and Rocky and Cody follow me to CU. Parking
is an issue for their large truck. A commercial vehicle metered spot is
available with a one-hour time limit and 20 minutes per dollar. I scramble
to collect change while Rocky and Cody start boxing up my books, papers,
and computers. I realize that I have neglected to finish preparing my office
for the move. Pictures and posters are plastered all over the walls, so after
getting my car parked I begin working on those. It is another hot day.

Roughly in the middle of the office move Anne-Marie calls me to tell me that
she and Aylia have come back to the house to discover another disastrous
mess of DS from Daisy. They make an initial pass on cleaning it.

When we are finally finished in my office I head home. We spend most of the
day cleaning the carpets. Daisy refuses to eat or drink all day. It
becomes clear to me that her time has passed. She has been a wonderful
companion for ten years, but at age 15 her hearing is gone, her eyesight
nearly so, and her hips so arthritic and emaciated that she has great
difficulty moving. When Aylia comes home from work I tell her that we will
euthanize Daisy Friday or Saturday.