In honour of our little Suzy who passed away peacefully yesterday after sharing the last eight years of her life with us, I thought I'd share an excerpt from my first Home Away From Home book. There's so much I can say about her, but honestly, it comes down to the fact that she was the most patient soul I have ever known. She was my co-pilot and my best friend. I told her secrets and she told me hers - well not really, it was a trick to get her to put her cute little nose in my ear - but I'll take what I can get. She was the great equalizer in little dog circles, she made sure everyone got along. Her bark was bigger than her and she liked to announce her arrival wherever she went. But her gentleness with people - from little babies, to those in their 90s - is what I'll remember... that and her soft, warm kisses. She was just three years old when we adopted her... and I had no idea how our lives would change, and how her presence in it would shape our life, our family... for the better. She inspired me and will continue to inspire me ... rest in peace little bum. It's all because of her... Suzy. The little muffin of a dog who joined our family one September day in 2005. It was the weekend of Hurricane Katrina and I remember picking her up at her foster home, buckling her up in the car and driving home while she just stared at me - my hand resting on her for reassurance. My husband and I had never lived with a little dog, but I knew from the moment I met her she was the one for us. When I first met Lexie back in May of 2012 while photographing animals at the shelter, she was pregnant... actually, she was VERY pregnant. She had come into the care of the shelter after being left tied outside - and eventually impregnated. I spent a lot of time with her and even made a little book called "Baby Dogs Are Called Puppies" which chronicled what it was like for a dog to give birth while in the care of the shelter. Here are some of some photos from then... (and scroll down to see some photos of NOW!) But today I got to visit her again - only now her name is Georgia as it would have been a bit confusing to have a daughter and dog in the house with the same name! It was so amazing to see her happy and healthy and spoiled. This girl, who had suffered terrible neglect - including an embedded collar - is living the life now and her new family can't say enough good things about her... I mean, sure, so she likes to steal food off the counter and take advantage of a guest in the house to sit on the living room couch *cough cough*, can you blame her? This young gal has a lot of time to make up for and a lot of lap-cudding to do, so it's a good thing she has the best home to help her take advantage of that. Just check out that Christmas collar her mom made her... she has at least one for every season! And unless there was the potential of food, Georgia just wanted to snuggle on the couch, occasionally reaching for either her mom's or my hand to give her some belly rubs.
So thank you to Julie & Alan for giving her such an incredibly loving home and for allowing me to come visit and partake of the calm love that this extra special girl exudes from every look from those big brown eyes and lick of her big, warm tongue on my hand. Until next visit... hopefully the weather will be warmer and we can really get her running because clearly today was too cold and she was probably wondering why we were getting her to run around when "dinnys" had already been called! xo |
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