koukla carolyn

Ruggles Pappas (1993-2007), watercolor

We had to put Ruggles down in October because he was doing very poorly. At the end, he had a stroke and could only move one side of his body so we couldn’t let him suffer anymore. I do miss him but am happy that I was able to say goodbye to him. Everytime I visit my parent’s house, I catch myself looking for him. Yesterday, I heard something that sounded like his chain and for a second I thought it was him. I painted this little watercolor from an old photo of Ruggles when he was still in the puppy stage. As he got older, he became afraid of cameras so we didn’t get many pictures of him but I found a stash of early photos while cleaning my parent’s attic a few weeks ago. I am planning on doing a series of pieces from those photos when I can. He did have a good life—he was 14.