it is never easy saying good-bye to a close friend or relative. if the family is lucky, they get their chance to say their good-byes in person to have the other person at least hear how he or she impacted your life in some way.
if the person is lucky, he or she would die knowing this already and pass quickly without pain and suffering.
perhaps the unluckiest person dies alone, unloved and without ever knowing how he or she mattered to someone. anyone. at all. to know you have not lived an empty existence.
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someone i met through majesty rottweiler rescue has had her heart broken today. brenda lee, one of her furkids, lost her battle with lymphoma. thanks to krissie, at the end, brenda lee knew how much she was loved.
brenda lee came from a shelter in nyc, a well-placed call from one of the shelter workers there alerted krissie to this wonderful girl, abandoned there a few days before. imagine taking your small child to the mall, and leaving him or her there with a stranger, knowing you were never coming back for him or her. imagine how frightened and alone your child would be in that situation. the unfamiliar sights and sounds, strangers poring over the anxious child - alone and afraid. it was no different for brenda lee.
like the child left behind, brenda lee couldn't tell us what happened or why she was there. she couldn't speak of missed meals or family members. of snuggling with her favorite person or walks in the park. of missing her favorite squeaky toy that both calms and entertains her. unfortunately, it is old scars and wounds healed over which often speak the loudest.
without saying a word.
at first krissie planned to foster her and until a family could be found for brenda lee. it was soon apparent that brenda lee had instead adopted krissie and her family. and so 6 months after bringing brenda lee home from the shelter, krissie "formally" adopted brenda lee.
a few weeks later, a small lump in brenda lee's mouth was diagnosed as cancerous, a tumor growing for some time and that now was making swallowing difficult. the vet's prognosis was bleak.
krissie was heartbroken but knew it was for the best. although still painful to krissie, no adopter wants to bond with a dog and lose him or her so quickly. it happens to be why it is so difficult to place older dogs into permanent homes -- everyone is looking for the "cute" puppy and no one wants to go through losing an older dog to illness and death.
for brenda lee, it was kismet. in the short 6 months, she knew love and tenderness, and for once, knew that she would be cared for and comforted. she impacted krissie's life as much as krissie impacted hers.
so with her passing, she has gone to the rainbow bridge where they say dogs wait for their families join them. if that's not heaven, then i'd much rather go to the rainbow bridge.
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