Ellie Mae Dawson

5/13/2014-12/27/2024

She joined our lives at 8 weeks old and gave us our title of dog parents. She had an older cat sister Roxie, we often joked that Ellie was a cat in dog form, probably got it from her sister. She was a mommy and daddy’s girl only and she let everyone know that, including her two younger sisters, Emmie Lou who we got two years later (that took some adjusting) and Evie Fae who we got four years later (at this point, she didn’t care for her at all and let it be known).

Ellie was the joy in our lives, a precious piece of our family, our comfort on our hard days, our little baby, the fearless leader in our home and hearts, who often tried to boss her older sister around, you can imagine how that went. She could be found in a blanket, in her mommy’s jacket, in a blanket wrapped up on mommy’s chest, or conning her daddy into carrying her everywhere or for more treats. She always got her way because if mommy ever said no, she went straight to her daddy and always got the yes she wanted. She had traveled many places with us, weekend trips, vacations, across town and even local wineries. She had been through a lot in ten years and there was a day we didn’t think we’d ever see her again, we were headed to our first family trip in Florida. Ellie Mae and Emmie Lou were strapped into their dog car seats. Unfortunately very early in the morning we were hit by a man who had fallen asleep at the wheel and crossed 4 lanes of interstate. We flipped and slid across the interstate. The impact and flipping caused the girl’s car seat straps to rip off and throw them from the vehicle. We crossed many angels that day that stopped and helped us find Emmie within 30 minutes but Ellie Mae was missing on a very busy 6 laned interstate in Georgia. We begged God to bring her back and safely. It was a trial and is now our testimony to our close relationship with God. So many things happened that had God’s hands in it. We got her back 8 hours later with NO injuries besides some mental trauma. We had to overcome this and she did, resiliently. That day we left a changed family. Ellie and Emmie were the best of friends from that day forward, often caught cuddling which would have never happened before. We were blessed with the best 4.5 extra years with her after our wreck. We never made it to Florida that trip but we got to go two years ago and the girls loved it. She loved us hard and was our 10 pound guard dog. She received a human baby brother October 2023. Ellie was always up when he was, making sure we knew he was crying and needed us. She was up every night feed with mommy and learned how to move real fast as he became mobile. She has a second human baby brother due May 2025. Although we longed for her to meet him and to spend time with mommy every night, we know she’s healthy and leading the streets of dog heaven. We lost her very unexpectedly and would give anything for one more minute with her. We pray that God has decided for us to see her again one day. For now, our hearts are broken and our home feels the missing piece of our family. We love you forever and will miss you always Ellie Mae.