Jazzie and Bill - Here's to Happy Endings
by Luan Egan - December 14, 2009

Bill is a retired cattle farmer. A funny little guy, he always looks like he sleeps in his clothes and has permanent bed head. People who judge him based on his appearance miss the warm funny guy inside, the one who loves his dogs with all his heart. My favourite Bill story was the one he told me about nice days on the farm when he would take a lawn chair out to the field and sit with his cows. He had given them all names and taught them to come when called. "Um, you had dairy cows" I asked? "No" he replied, "they were beef cattle. But that doesn't mean I couldn't be nice to them".

Bill sold the farm after he had a heart attack and didn't think he could handle it any more. He was living with his two old Border Collie mixes in a cabin on a property he shares with his nephew and family, not far from my place. When one of the dogs died after a brief illness, he called me asking about adopting another. No need for a young dog, just one that needed a good home and that he could take for long walks through the fields and recreational trials around his place. It would be good for both of them. When Jazzie came in I called him. "I think I have the dog for you" I told him, and explained what I knew of her story. He came to meet her and fell in love. Jazzie seemed to take to this little man with the misbuttoned shirt hanging over his trousers and unlaced shoes, and his remaining old dog Snowball. She was coaxed into his truck for the short drive back to his place, and by the time I came by 2 days later to see how she was doing she was settled in and seemed happy and content.

I dropped by occasionally to see how they were making out. Bill was very sad when Snowball also passed on a few months later. Then it was just Bill and Jazzie and they were inseparable.

In November 2009 I received a call from Bill. He was very agitated and was crying. "I can't keep Jazzie" he wailed. "Bill, what's happened?" I asked. "I have bone cancer. Next week I go in for surgery and they may take off my leg" he answered forlornly. My nephew won't look after her, and you said you would take her back if something happened to me. Can I bring her over now?" I said of course, and put the kettle on for tea. When he got out of his truck he was walking with a crutch, and obviously in a great deal of pain. We sat and drank tea and talked. He had a previous history of bone cancer and had surgery on his shoulder in 1958. He had spent the past summer experiencing pain in his knee and had trouble getting the doctor to take it seriously. Finally as it worsened he got sent for tests and an MRI. By the time they confirmed that there was a mass behind his knee he was feeling pain in his hip and shoulder as well. I tried to comfort him and suggested that maybe the hip and shoulder pain were a result of his favouring one side and walking with the crutch. He was so afraid of waking up from the exploratory surgery the following Tuesday to find his leg gone. In his mind he was as good as dead. He said a tearful goodbye to Jazzie, and I told him that I would bring her to visit with him. Initially he was reluctant and thought it would be too hard on her, but I assured him that I had done it with another foster dog and both of them were comforted by the visits.

Jazzie settled back into the routine at Roverdale quickly. The shy, fearful, and confused dog of ten months before was gone, and she was calm and friendly. But she spend most of her time lying near the door, as though confident that Bill would be back for her. On Tuesday morning I awoke thinking about Bill. He was probably already at the hospital being prepped for surgery, and I was dreading what he would awake to.

So I was surprised when the phone rang shortly after Noon and Bill was on the other end. "Wasn't your surgery today?" I asked. "Yes" he practically sang, "and it's not cancer! I'm coming for my dog!"

A short time later his truck pulled in and he hopped out. He shouldn't have been driving. But he was still numb from the painkillers they had injected into the area, and wanted to get Jazzie and get home before they wore off. He told me that when the surgeon got into his knee, he found a mass behind it that he removed, but it wasn't cancerous. Bill was told that he would need a knee replacement, but he was euphoric. He wasn't going to die after all, and he had his beloved Jazzie back.

Bill knows that he has to make some adjustments to accommodate his leg, and Jazzie will probably come stay with me when he eventually goes through his knee replacement and rehab. But Jazzie seemed to know he would be okay, and had confidence that the little guy who sang to his cows would be back for her.

Wishing you all A Happy Holiday Season, with Peace, Prosperity and Good Health in 2010.

May you all have many Happy Endings.