After a few years, we made the investment if getting a computer. It went into the spare bedroom that I used as an office of sorts. At night, when I was on the computer, she chose her spot...........right behind my chair. I had to be careful when I got up that I wouldn't run over her paws or ears. It became a habit and I still look before I get up to make sure she is not in the way. She isn't. Not any more....and I miss that.

As the years went by, we all got older. Molly was never really close with Murphy but if he had something and she wanted it, she got it, and he let her. They were never close but never far away from each other either. I only saw them snuggled up together one time. They had been to the groomer and got very short haircuts. It was May and had been in the eighties. The next day, the temperature plummeted and it got cold. My babies, for the first and only time, were snuggled together on a dog bed.

Life continued and when Molly was nine and Murphy 13, Murphy left us for the Bridge on a warm August evening. He died at my feet. He wouldn't let me hold him. He had been diagnosed with cancer just days before and nothing could be done. Molly, of course, knew but left him alone until after he passed. Once he was gone, she came up to him and licked his face. I guess it was her way of saying goodby.

After that, it was just us girls for the next ten months. Molly seemed perfectly content with that. I was not. I thought she needed a companion dog and began to look. I had thought about a puppy but then found Petfinder on line and started to look at older rescue dogs. Eventually, we found Mick and he became Molly's new brother. She treated him with the same indifference as she had done with Murphy. Mick was a totally different personality than Murphy though and was happy to let Molly be the top dog. They got along well. Molly still pursued her interests which were primarily digging holes and burying things. She especially liked raiding visitor's coat pockets and handbags then running out back and burying her loot.

Her other passion was stealing and eating the tomatoes off the vines in my garden.

When Molly had just turned eleven, she was viciously attacked on our back porch by a pit bull that had gotten into the yard. She survived that attack because that is what Molly is, a survivor although she lost her right eye. After that, she was more wary of other dogs around her, even Mick and she tended to stay by herself or be with me. She was about to get another shock though.

In May of 2004, we adopted another little brother, Ruaidhri-Spencer. He was a tiny year old boy and I hoped Molly might want to "mother" him but she basically ignored him. In time, he became part of the pack and though he vied for top dog position, Miss Molly very clearly let him know the only top dog in this den would be she, the light of my life. We then fostered for the first time..........a cute little honey blond cocker girl I named Cait. She was with us for five months. Molly, for the first time since she left her litter, had a sister. It didn't matter. Molly remained her aloof little self and other than letting Cait know who was boss, pretty much ignored her too.

After Cait was adopted, we had yet another foster........a little red and white cocker boy who I named Taernan. Taernan was adopted fairly quickly and returned back just as quickly. He remained for almost a year before we realized he was already in his forever home and the adoption was made final. Another little brother for Miss Molly. She didn't treat him any differently than any of the others; she was the light of my life and she knew it. He, however, would, at times cuddle up with her on a dog bed. And, she would let him!

For two summers, Molly attended the CockerPals Picnic in New York. She won a prize for being oldest dog there when she was 15. She mostly just lay on her blue bed and watched the activity. Being the independent woman that she was though, when she felt like it, she would get up and walk around to see what was going on. At the last picnic, she wore her green daisy dress with the little straw hat to match. She kept it on all day and got a lot of compliments. Molly loved to be complimented on her looks and even though she was now deaf, she knew she was the Belle of the Ball. That was to be her last picnic, the light of my life.

Molly remained pretty healthy until September when she was diagnosed with liver disease. As only Molly could do, she overcame this as well and with treatment and special food, she rallied back and celebrated her sixteenth birthday in December 2007. She did pretty well for the next few months but eventually began to lose weight and seemed tired most of the time. Still, when it was time to eat, she was right there. A visit to the vet found her liver enzymes were perfectly normal now. There was possibly something else causing her to lose weight or maybe just old age. We decided not to find out. Winter became Spring and Molly continued to slow down. She finally refused the special dog food. I made her ravioli which she loved and devoured. Popsicles were good too. I would hold her and rock her, because now she would let me and tell her that when she was ready to let me know and I would set her free. Finally, she stopped eating and drinking anything at all. It was time.

On June 20th 2008, the first day of Summer, with the help of Dr. Floyd and me holding her in my arms, I fulfilled the promise I had made to the little puppy named Miss Molly sixteen years before and with all my love, sent her to Rainbow Bridge where she will wait patiently for me to join her, the light of my life.