This picture is hanging as a large canvas print above our living room overlooking the room she spent the greatest amount of time waiting for us in some way and in some manner. For a game of frisbee, for dinner, for breakfast, to go out, to go bye bye and to leap into our laps and howl at our return. She would sit on the couch on the top edge of it and survey her world and the world outside of our house and watch whatever was out there to see. She could see all areas of our house and that was her spot. She would be the light of the room with the howl of the sweet sound of her voice. We miss that about her the most.
The final hours of her life were hard and the removal to have her cremated was even harder but we were relieved to have something to do. The hospice veterinarian who couldn't make it in time and who we had to call and tell her that she had passed was so helpful and recommended the cremation service they used and we called them. They were wonderful. There are no words and no way to express the appreciation we had for them being there and able to take care of her. They sent someone right away, despite it being Labor Day and so we had a few hours with her laying on her bed with a blanket over her. Before they arrived, our friends unexpectedly showed up, the closest friends we have to family and with them they brought their compassion for the loss of our puppy. My friend Marcia who loves animals gave me a rose and my friend Cindy and Frank hugged us. It was like the death of a family member and they treated us like it mattered just as much and we will forever be grateful for them and for their wonderful compassion.
The representative of the cremation company came and he showed respect and compassion towards our loss and made it much easier to handle the steps we were going to take to let her go. He explained everything to us and we had chosen an urn beforehand by looking at their website so we made sure that he had that information and then he carefully and respectfully wrapped her up as if she was an egg crate and put her in his car and she was gone. It was the final goodbye and it was so sad.
We sat around talking about her and how she had been the light of our lives and how we were not able to get anyone in to help her in time, which was one of our many regrets. How we would do things differently and maybe next time, if there was another time, we'd choose differently.
We decided to go to breakfast and then we came home to an emptier house, quieter, made so by her loss.
A few days later we had the urn delivered to our beloved veterinarian's office and it arrived in a tiny bag but with the most beautiful urn with her ashes in it and it was bittersweet and we cried on the way to the car. In the bag was the certificate of her death with the Rainbow Bridge poem and it was somewhat comforting to know she was home. We put her in a place of honor in our living room and there she is with a photo of her nearby. We sometimes can look at it and remember her but it's still with pain and still too soon to be comforted by it, but one day we will be. It's still too new and too raw to get past the loss. She was taken too soon and we are mourning her loss every day. Now we face the loss of her Mack the Osteosarcoma dog and it is with such pain to acknowledge that they are too temporary and taken too soon. We love you little girl, Punky Pete and Energizer Bunny, you were loved before you were born.
Oreo Foster
July 2001 to September 2013
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