Bulldog bucket list
Courtesy photo Callie Edelman and Lulu.
Courtesy photo Girl Scout Seniors Avery Gephart, left, and Clare Dolan, right, of Girl Scout Troop 3032 and U.S. Army Specialist Callie L. Edelman and Edelman’s English bulldog, Lulu, pose for a photo near the troop’s float in Coeur d’Alene’s Fourth of July parade. Edelman and Lulu marched in the parade with the Girl Scouts.
Something was off.
Lulu, a 5-year-old English bulldog, sluggishly moved across the room to her owner, Callie Edelman, at a pace far slower than her usual waddle.
Lulu yelped in pain as Edelman stroked the fur on her lower back, signaling to Edelman that something was very wrong. It wasn’t until she heard the vet say the words, “I’m about to make you cry,” that she realized just how wrong things were.
Edelman and Lulu joined the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho in the American Heroes parade Tuesday morning in downtown Coeur d’Alene to knock off an item on Lulu’s new bucket list after discovering she only has a month to live.
Edelman is a U.S. Army Specialist Combat Medic and a resident of Liberty Lake. Almost two weeks ago, the vet told Edelman Lulu had developed an inoperable, aggressive form of osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, in her back over the past six weeks. At most, Lulu could live for a couple months longer, but Edelman said she would probably have to put her down in the beginning of August to ease her suffering.
The loss of a loved one can be crippling. Whether it’s a mother, a friend or a pet, the sting is the same. But while death is inevitable, wallowing in depression over it is a choice. Edelman chose to make a positive experience out of Lulu’s remaining time in this world by writing her a 14-item bucket list. As part of the list, Edelman and Lulu walked with the local Girl Scout troop in Coeur d’Alene’s parade.
The plan came about while crossing another item off the list.
“One of the things was ‘go enjoy a taco on taco Tuesday.’ We went to Freedom Burrito because I love the name Freedom Burrito and gave her a burrito and I met a wonderful woman ... and her children were playing with Lulu and I explained to her what was going on,” Edelman said. “She said, ‘Let me talk to my Girl Scout leader about getting her in a parade,’ because I really wanted her to be in a parade and be a princess for a day, basically.”
Edelman and Lulu will appear again in Hayden’s Hometown Heroes parade on July 15 to cross “riding in a fire engine” off the list. Edelman made some progress in the last few weeks; painting flowers with Lulu’s paws and sharing a hot dog at a baseball game on Wednesday were some items the two have completed. But Edelman’s main goal is for Lulu to see the ocean.
“She loves to swim and unfortunately she can’t swim that well. She’s not really buoyant; she’s just kind of a heavy potato,” Edelman said. She started a Go Fund Me account to help fund a trip to Oregon’s Arcadia Beach in order to make Lulu’s last trip one that Edelman can always cherish.
Edelman wanted to go to great lengths to make Lulu comfortable in her final few weeks because she’s more than just a dog to Edelman, she’s her soul mate. Edelman searched online to find a breeder for the rare all-white bulldog she’d wanted since she was a young girl. No distance would stop her, not even that between Kansas and Colorado.
“I always wanted an all-white bulldog and I found her and fell in love with her the moment I saw her; I knew that she and I were supposed to be together,” Edelman said. “She’s been my fur baby, my buddy; she’s experienced a lot with me. There’s a great quote that says, ‘dogs may not be our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.’”
Lulu played many parts in Edelman’s life, including hero at one point. After a dryer fire broke out in her home a couple of years ago, Lulu acted as her savior.
“She basically broke down the front door and was barking at me trying to get me out,” Edelman said.
Being from New York City, Edelman said Lulu is her only family here, making losing her that much harder. But Edelman doesn’t plan on crying when it’s over, she plans on smiling because it happened.
“Then my next step was, ‘OK, how can I make her comfortable, how can I turn these last months into a positive?’ I feel like that’s so important in the grieving stages, how you can deal in a positive way instead of becoming paralyzed by depression. So, that’s why I came up with the bucket list. Let’s make these amazing last months with wonderful memories and just enjoy life together with the time that she has left,” Edelman said.