Late last week, Shasta let us know that she was ready to go home.
I made the appointment for the following afternoon.
On Friday, we gathered around her as a family for the last time.
And cried.
And prayed.
And loved.
Then a dear friend came and drove Shasta and me to the vet. I don’t know how I can ever truly thank her for that. She knew what I needed and didn’t let any thought of her own comfort or convenience keep her from acting.
It was over quickly. I held my little dog, looked into her eyes and said goodbye.
We buried her under our lilac tree, an area of our yard frequented by the squirrels she so loved to chase. Newt choked out a few words, Walt prayed and we all sang a couple of hymns (and the Armour Hotdog jingle, in case you were wondering). We laughed and we cried and we felt grateful that this sweet little lady had been a part of our family, a part of our lives.
Newt spent part of the weekend creating this memorial stone.
We miss her.
So sad. It is always hard to say goodbye to a friend. I love Newts Memorial stone. Beautiful.
So sorry for you all. She was truly a lucky dog to have spent time with such a loving family.
OH so sad! I’m so sorry for all of you. Newt’s stone is so sweet. I pray that Shasta’s memories keep all of you happy for a long long time!
Oh Heidi. I’m so sorry for your loss. Just so sorry.
🙁 {{{{hugs}}}}
Love and hugs to you and your family.
Praying for you guys. So sorry.
Aw, that’s hard. I got choked up just thinking about how you must have felt. I tried to read the post about what happened and I get a 404 error. Were you expecting this?
Thank you all so much for your support. This is much harder than I was expecting. Kelly, I got that link fixed. Yes, we knew it was coming. Shasta’s liver was enlarged, she kept getting UTIs, and she lost 3 pounds over the last couple of months. All of that coupled with her arthritis and age, helped us to make the decision to only seek treatment to keep her comfortable and to let her go when she wasn’t anymore. On Wednesday, she seemed to get a second wind and was frisking about like her old self, but that evening she began vomiting. Thursday she spent the day wrapped in a blanket, weak, shaking and unable to eat or drink more than a little bit of water. Even Newt could tell that it was time.
She was a pretty little dog, but our house feels so empty without her.
:'( Such a hard thing to go through. They do seem to let you know when it’s time to go home, but it doesn’t make it any easier to make that call.