Oh no.
 
I just got word from my Dad that my Aunt Mary's Schipperke, Dixie Marie, died this morning. Apparently her cancer came back, and she was suffering, but no longer.

Dixie traveled with my aunt and uncle almost everywhere she could. In the car on trips from New Orleans to Florida or New Orleans to Houston, and sometimes short flights. The back windows in the Jeep and Lexus were almost permanently smudged with Dixie's nose prints from traveling hither and yon. I remember on our cruise to Bermuda, when a hurricane was incoming to New Orleans, my uncle's phone was in use trying to determine if the dog-sitter could take Dixie with her if she evacuated, or if they'd have to get someone else to pick her up. One time with Laura stayed with us at my aunt and uncle's place in New Orleans, Dixie ate the antacids out of her purse. I also distinctly remember Tracie greeting my aunt before our wedding with "You're Dixie Marie's Mom, right?" Strangely some folks don't mind being known as their pets' owners.

She was cute and small and full of energy, mostly well-behaved, and very lovable.

sniff, Good-bye Dixie.