“Bailey, smile.”

Bailey would throw back her head and show her teeth.

“Bailey, wiggle.”

Bailey would remain still, except for the butt wiggle which earned her name of “Miss Wigglesbottom.”

Baby Girl had a signature black heart when she curled up.

She adored her big brother, Chief.

Bailey and her sister and littermate, Harrigan, snuggled one minute and growled at one another the next. And as predicted by a veterinarian when they were a few months old, one sister nearly grieved herself to her own death. It was touch and go with Harrigan’s own survival for nearly two months; Harrigan deeply grieved Bailey’s passing.

At 2:40 PM, Thursday, December 28, 2023, Bailey passed away following a brief battle with esophageal cancer, and nearly four months after giving birth to four babies. Haaskins was the only one to survive.

Somehow, Haaskins rescued some of her mother’s novel characteristics of smuggling beneath my chin to sleep, grunting when I adjust my sleeping positions, and tilting back her head when she sits.

I do miss my Miss Wigglesbottom and my Baby Girl, a title inherited by Haaskins,

Continue to rest in peace, sweet Bailey. Know you are still missed and still very loved…