Farewell Fifi ... Fabulous Friend and Confidant

Since the WRAL.com Pets section launched in the spring of 2007, Miss Fifi has graced the home page as the advice columnist to the animals. Fierce. Fabulous. Fearless. That's our Miss Fifi.

She never shied away from discussing the tough topics, from the latest fashion and pet tech craze, to the safest way for lizards to slip into and out of camouflage without facing peril. She was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, a tiara atop her head, and an unparalleled sense of adventure. She adored fashion week in France and Milan. But above all, she loved the life she lived with her family here in the Triangle--her boy Peyton, her mom Dolly, and her dad Matt.

In fact, her family was with her in the very end, last year. Miss Fifi is the nom de plume for the incomparable Penelope Buttercup, who passed away peacefully on May 26, 2008, just one month shy of her 12th birthday.

Penelope, or Penny as she was known at home, was a wonderful dog. “She was our first baby,” said Dolly Sickles, Miss Fifi’s alter ego and WRAL.com’s own Gardening Gloves author. “She was the very first thing my husband and I had to care for after we got married.”

“Our son graduates from the fifth grade today, so while we face the beginning of an awesome, exciting journey with our other baby, it’s crushing to finally lay Penny to rest. Because writing as Miss Fifi kept a little piece of Penny alive for me. I can hear her in my mind, just like I can always feel her in my heart.”

“But Dilettante Dilly, or Dilly Freckles, as my son calls her, is still with us, ruling the roost. And our sweet little Magnolia May has been with us for nearly two years now … but there will never be another Penelope Buttercup. And there will never another Miss Fifi.”

So today, more than 500 entries later, we turn over the keys to the castle to little Tracker, the WRAL newsroom pup.

Woof! Woof! Woof!