Last night was very hard for me. I knew what would be today and as I write this, I still feel that Holly is laying on the rug near me resting as always. But of course, she isn't. This morning Mary Beth and I took her to the vet. All the staff at the Vet's office came out to see her and tell her good bye. They loved that old dog too. They knew her when she was a younger fiestier dog and how spirited she was. They knew her habits and had watched her grow increasingly older. The last time I had her to the vet, the vet came out to my truck and took her stitches out from her surgery. He was surprised at how well she had healed and truly today I could hardly see her scar from the recent surgery.
Yesterday, I knew I had made the right decision. I had known it all week. But yesterday it became clearer than ever. She was confused about how to get back on the deck to get to her dog food bowl. I feel certain that the cancer had found it's way to her brain. I helped her back up the one small step onto the deck. Then she found her bowl. Last night she needed to go out and I once again had to help her find the step up to the deck and back into the house. She cried when she laid down on the rug by my bed. She really wanted to sleep there. She had come over to the bed and I had leaned down and petted her and talked to her. She was in pain, despite the aspirin I had given her.
She got to her feet with my help and walked over to the door and went outside. She slept on the deck the rest of the night. It was not where I wanted her to be but it was where she had to be to get enough breath.
Mary Beth came just before ten and we went to the vet's office where we met Debbie. Even the vet, a kind hearted young man whom I have known since he was born, had tears and words of sympathy for us. He assured us that we had done the right thing for her. The shot was administered and she went off to sleep very quietly and was gone. We buried her under a tree at the end of the garden. We will plant flowers and put a small simple stone there to mark her resting place.
God blesses us in so many ways. He sends people in our lives that bless us. He administers to our needs and he gives us good dogs like Holly to love us and make our lives fuller. We can never be alone if we have a dog. She has kept me company and kept me from being lonely since Bill died. She kept him company in the days he spend while I was at work. I would come home at times and find both of them gone. They would be off somewhere together.
So I thank God for Holly and what she has been to us in our lives. She has loved us and she has loved our family. Always happy to be around where we were and especially with the children. You know children are not real neat at the table and will often drop something to the floor. She was there happily waiting to clean it up.
Today as we celebrated Holly's life and mourned her death, we were happy to celebrate the new life that God blessed us with today. My new great granddaughter was born just minutes after Holly's life ended. I have not seen her yet but from all reports, she is very beautiful. She weighed in at 6 lbs 11 ozs. Almost 2 pounds more than her cousin Alyssa. I will see Layla Michelle Sitgraves tomorrow and look in on her mother who had to have a C Section to have her. So today has been a bitter sweet day. The blessings God has showered us with today out weights the sadness of losing our faithful friend.
I pray you will have a restful night and God will bless and keep you in his loving care.
Regards,
Mary
Horses change lives. They give our young people confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled souls, they give us hope!
Toni Robinson
Footnote: The same can be said of dogs and often those who love and own horses also love and own dogs.
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creatures after his kind, cattle and creeping thins and beast of the earth after his kind and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image after our own likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the animals of the earth and every creeping thing that creepth upon the earth."
Genesis 1: 24-26
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