Kisha

Kisha is dearly missed by Brian Blee. A few words:

Kisha Blee 11/25/95-9/8/98

3 short wonderful years

Why do I love Kisha???

She was always there for me and everyone else. I only wish I could have been there for her when she needed me the most. She loved every minute of her life, and she loved her family (each member in a different way). If I had know she would leave me so soon, I would have spent much more time with her.

On the day twenty-five of November, 1995, I came home late at night and I heard a strange noise coming from the Utility room. It had been several years since the death of Flicka. I went upstairs to investigate the disturbance. When I opened the door, I was overwhelmed by the smell of urine and shit. Sitting, crying right in the middle of the stench was a little white ball of fur trembling and scared. She was the cutest thing I ever saw, but I was not about to corrupt the memory of Flicka by loving another dog. So, being very stern with the dog, I said "What are you doing here?" she looked at me as if to say "I am here because you need me". Continuing to be stubborn, I decided to test this little ball of fur, by asking her to sit. (I knew she wouldn’t know how to, but I was just being an asshole). When I asked her, she looked at me like she was trying to figure it out. So, I helped her sit once. I then asked her again to sit. To my utter amazement she sat. I thought to myself "fluke" and asked her again and again she sat. From that moment on, I realized how much she wanted to be part of our lives and decided to love her.

Right after we got Kisha, mom bought a little brown rubber bone. From day one, Kisha would play with that bone. There was one problem, however. The bone would always get lost. So, poor Kisha could hardly ever play with it.

You might wonder where she got the name Kisha.. Well my sister Renee got it from somewhere. I was opposed to the name because it seemed kind of wimpy. But somehow it stuck and I learned to love it. I was still apprehensive in soiling Flicka’s memory at this time and I tried to not get too attached to Kisha.

When I cam home from work, I would often have a mountain dew in a bottle. Kisha loved to play with the bottles. She would start by taking off the lids. Then, she would work on the little plastic ring until it came off. After that she would shred the label until it was off. Then and only then, would she proceed to play with the bottle. You could throw it and she would bring it back to you.

The first adventure with Kisha was getting her fixed. She had picked up a little habit of chewing on and eating just about everything. Once she ate a cardboard box and threw it up. Mom bought her a little bed and she chewed that up. Mom took her to the vet to get her spade on a Friday. Saturday, we got a call from the vet saying that Kisha tore out all her stitches. She ended up staying at the vet for the whole weekend. When I went to pick her up, she was so very happy to see me and me her.

The months floated by and that darn dog just got better and better. She was barking one day and I decided to try something. I said "SPEAK!" and waited for her to bark again. When she barked, I said "Good Dog!" I then tested it by saying "SPEAK!" After one attempt Kisha was speaking. She was such a smart dog, but she had a couple of problems. She could not catch anything in her mouth at all. I worked and worked with her on this. Finally, one day, she caught something and that is all it took. Problem one was solved.

Another problem she had was she liked to run all over the place. She just would not stay home. This turned out to be her one and only flaw. Me and mom would take turns chasing her down and we got so mad at her. We screamed at her to come, but, smart as she was, she knew she was in trouble. So, she would keep just far enough from us so we could not catch her. It made us furious. Thus began the adventure of keeping Kisha home. (boy what an adventure)

The Memorial day holiday had come and I had started going on an annual trip to Fred Robinson Bridge to paddlefish. I decided to take Kisha with me. It was raining that day, and nobody else was going with me to the bridge, so it was just Kisha and me. She always rode so well in cars, calm and content, she just loved to be going along. I really liked having her up there on that trip. She got so muddy from running all over the place.

Needles to say, Kisha spent most of her time in the house because of her wandering problem. However, spring was coming and she was shedding like a bandit. Mom was battling this with full force. I think she vacuumed the floor 3 times a week. One day Kisha and the neighbor’s dog got into a bit of trouble. It seems they decided to go play with the neighbor’s chickens and ended up killing a couple. Naturally, the neighbors were upset about this and the once small problem with Kisha became a major one.

We now had no choice but to find a way to keep her home, or we would have to let her go. By this time I had grown quite fond of Kisha and was not about to let her go. It was quite a problem. But, giving all the credit to mom, we thought we might have found a solution. Mom saw somewhere an add for an electronic fence that would give her a little jolt of electricity and keep her in its boundary. So, we decided to give it a try. At this time, I was getting pretty busy with work having been on a lay-off period over winter. Mom did most of the work in just about everything. But, a couple of times, we both went out together to train Kisha. Of course, as smart as Kisha was, training her was a snap.

We let Kisha out of the house a few times by herself while we watched her. She really seemed to take to the new fence and obey its laws. But, her brain was working on over-time trying to figure a way out of this dilemma. One day, she did figure it out and that was the end of that.

At about this time, I was offered a job in Stevensville that I decided to take. So I was off to find a place to live the re. (This was with the assumption that I would take Kisha with me) Renee had grown very fond of Kisha too and I decided to leave Kisha home. Well it came time to head for the road and I had to say goodbye to Kisha. (for how long? I had no idea) When I looked her straight in the eye, somehow I knew she knew what was going on. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.

In Stevensville, I missed everyone - Family, Friends, and Kisha. She gave a kind of love you just cant get from people. Oh did I miss her. Mom would call about once a week and it was always great to hear her voice. I would ask them to tell Kisha to speak and when I herd her, it made me not so lonely. I really wished she was with me.

About 2 lonely months past and me and my family had decided to get together up at the boulder. I begged mom to bring Kisha, and she agreed. I remember pulling into the campsite late that evening. I remember seeing all the people I loved so much. And then, out of the dark came a wonderful sight. It was Kisha (all grown up now) I was so happy to see her. We spent the weekend up there and I let Kisha sleep in the tent next to me. But, the weekend past and it was time again to say goodbye. This was just as hard as the first time.

I kept getting the phone calls week after week getting the latest news of the people I loved and updates to moms battle with keeping Kisha home. It was getting gradually easier day by day. Mom and dad decided to build a fence as a last resort solution. Wow! it worked. Problem 2 was solved.

Now, the problem was that I was in Stevensville and my family and Kisha were at home. It was looking pretty grim on me getting back home more than a couple of times a year. I hated it there. The next trip home was Christmas (Kisha’s second Christmas). I got 5 days to spend with them all and they went so fast. But, then came the dreaded goodbye again. I spent several months in Stevensville until Easter and then my parents and sister came to visit me (no Kisha). It sure was great to see them again, but a little dog was missing. Easter came and went and it was again time to say goodbye. I planned a trip for memorial day to go home and the days leading to that just kreeped by. Finally, the time to go home had come. When my plane reached its destination, it was different because no one was there to meet me. I drove home and there she was. The rain had come that weekend and I decided not to go paddle-fishing, but I did enjoy being home and seeing Kisha. The weekend flew by and it was once again time to say goodbye.

I had had enough of Stevensville, and was ready to come home once and for all. It wasn’t until July that I finally found another job. I was coming home. Mom and Dad helped me move all my stuff back home and I was back, back with my family . I remember when I got back I went into the back yard with Kisha and it was like she was showing me her new fenced home. She showed me all the trails she had made and seemed so happy to see me back there. For the remainder of that summer, we spent some time in the mountains of which one trip we took Kisha. She loved going with us anywhere. Everything was perfect, except for my new job. However, once in a while, she still ran off. She was really learning the discipline we gave her every time she did this. Actually, this was the only time I ever had to scold her.

Now that I was home, I could spend plenty of time with Kisha. She love to go play out on the front lawn and chase after a Gatorade bottle in the back yard. She would grab the bottle and make you chase her around. I would come home from work and occasionally play outside with her. As summer wore on, we went outside less and less. Kisha was a grown dog now.

The winter and the cold came back and the outside playing pretty much stopped. But we still played inside. She was getting her winter coat and she looked beautiful. Once in a while, when the weather permitted, we would go out and play. She did some neat things in the snow. Sometimes I think because she was born in the winter, that was her favorite time.

Christmas had come again and I was out shopping for gifts. I decided to buy Kisha a volleyball for Christmas. When I gave it to her, she didn’t know for sure if she was allowed to play with it. But, eventually she got used to the idea. The ball was to big for her to catch in her mouth, so she tried as hard as she could to catch it with her front paws. She got pretty good at it. Winter kind of drug on through the months for Kisha. She was getting pretty board with stay ing inside. She really loved to run.

Spring had sprung, and Kisha was shedding like crazy. It was driving mom crazy. Me and her could go outside more often now and mom insisted on it. Kisha loved it every time someone went outside with her. Renee and Dad would go running and she loved going with them. She would get so excited when they were getting ready to go.

Spring moved to summer and Kisha had gotten used to staying at home. She no longer ran off on us. She was now the perfect dog. The summer was hot this year and it was affecting all of us. Things moved pretty much as they always do until day seven of September 1998.

I got up that morning and I was kind of run down from a long week of work. My parents and sister went up to the Boulder to spend the weekend, and they invited me up. I didn’t feel that good, so I was contemplating going. The day drifted by and I had a hard time deciding weather or not I was going up there. I thought of Kisha. She hadn’t really gone anywhere this summer with us. I asked her "Do you want to go fishing?" Her eyes perked up and she got excited as to say "Yes". So, I decided to go. I got things ready and we were on our way. She sat content in the front seat of the car anxious to get wherever we were going. She looked out the window and looked at me. Finally, she took a little nap. When we got there, everyone was glad to see us (especially Renee). She said "Hi Kisha!" and Kisha went crazy. She was very happy to be up there with us. The night rolled on and it was time to go to bed. I laid the seats down in the truck and me and Kisha got in. Throughout the night Kisha was nervous about her sleeping area, she was used to sleeping at home. She would whimper a little and I would call her close. Then she would sleep a little. This went on throughout the night, but I didn’t mind. I enjoyed her company.

When morning broke, Kisha wanted desperately to get out of the truck, so I let her out and remained to sleep some more. When I got up, I still did not feel very good. There Kisha was, exploring the campground. She seemed so happy. Me, mom, dad, and Renee decided to do a little fishing before we headed for home so we all got in the truck and I put Kisha in the back. When we got there, there was a little trial to the fishing spot. Kisha pulled me like there was no tomorrow. We just could not go fast enough. We got to the hole and fished for a while. I walked with Kisha for a bit to let her explore. Mom caught a little trout and it swallowed the hook so far, we could not get it out. So, we decided to keep the fish. Dad worked a little puddle in the shore so the fish would stay there. Kisha was fascinated with the fish. It was so cute watching her play with it. She was very gentle. Burnt out on the whole fishing trip, we decided to head for home. Mom and dad went ahead with the trailer and me and Renee followed them home. I had not rolled up the sleeping bag and I put the seats down again. I let Kisha in the back and she curled up in the back of the truck like a little baby. She slept most of the way home, tired from her adventure. Most nights, Kisha slept in my room, however, she went to bed early on her bed in the family room. But, bright and early in the morning of the eighth day of September 1998, Kisha came in to wake me.

I woke up and went out to the family room and started the normal routine. That day, dad went running with Kisha and then Renee went running with her. Kisha loved to go running with them. I heard news that my sister Stacey and her husband Mike were coming out for a visit. So, I mentioned to them that they might bring their dog out for Kisha to play with. When they were out, the dogs had a ball outside. We played cards, during which I was feeling really lousy. After the game, I decided to go into my room to lay down. I was there for about 2 hours when my mom came in and said "Brian, I have some bad news. Kisha is dead". The words hit me like a rock and I lept up to see her. It turns out that she died right outside my window. I went outside and Renee was watching her from the deck crying. I went to her and she was already stiff. Right at that moment, a piece of me died. My mom, dad and Mike buried her next to Flicka while me and Renee watched from the deck. We were both crying.

That night, Mike and Stacey told us how Kisha was entered into our lives. They said she was in the pound on her last day and she was dirty and cold. One day later and we would have never got to know Kisha. We gave a gift to Kisha. We turned one day into 3 years. And, in return, she gave us 3 years of unconditional love and joy.

The time I missed with Kisha in Stevensville turned out to be a third of her life. But that was how it was meant to be. I thank god for the gift of 2 years with her.

I will miss this dog very much.

For the dog I love.

Brian J Blee

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