July 7, 2020
Two years ago today we lost our beautiful Holly to cancer. It’s safe to say that we still “leak from our eyeholes” frequently. Through those tears we also smile knowing that our strong, amazing, sweet girl is still watching over us from the Rainbow Bridge. We know that both Holly and her brother, Ace, are together again, along with other members of their pack that passed previously, playing, running and now healthy as they watch over us together. We imagine that Holly was one of the first to greet her feline fursibling, Bubba, whom we lost 2 weeks ago at the age of 16 to kidney failure. We know that she is showing him the ropes up there at the Bridge, just as she embraced Ace last year.
We often think back to the dreadful day that we heard Holly’s first diagnosis of cancer. The shock of the thought that our amazing, sweet little girl would have to go through such a huge surgery to lose a leg, to become a tripawd in order to be cured from her cancer was initially overwhelming. It seemed like such a big price to pay, not as far as money, but as far as our Holly having to lose a leg in order to survive . Just like so many who have been through this before and so many that are going through this after us, we were terrified. We couldn’t imagine how she would manage or what her life would look like after amputation. We were so concerned as to whether or not we were making the right decision for her. It was, after all, a huge life changing surgery. Knowing what we know now, looking back to that dreadful day in January 2018 when she was diagnosed, we have absolutely no regrets in our decision for her. Although Holly was diagnosed with a secondary cancer several months later and we lost her 7 months post amp, she thrived in those 7 months after amputation.
Scrolling through her website here, is something we find ourselves doing quite often. Although our sweet, kind, strong girl has left this world, her story lives on. It’s a reminder of how much she accomplished, how she so quickly adapted and how much “life” she still had to live. Holly was able to live her best life post amputation. She went on to teach us that nothing was going to stop her from enjoying her time and from playing with her fursbilings as she could do anything she set her mind to. The lessons that she taught us will live on forever, just as our love for her.
We have stayed in the Tripawd community as we hope that Holly’s story will offer inspiration to others and to offer support for those who are new facing the same challenges and questions that we once faced ourselves. We continue to foster for a local rescue. This past year we were lucky enough to foster yet another tripawd pup. Holly’s lesson of resilience has lived on. The door that she opened for us, in teaching us that with the proper tools (rugs, ramps, etc.) and a lot of love that everything would be just fine, has lived on.
To our amazing girl, although we can no longer kiss your sweet face we hold tight to your memory and know that we will someday see you again, hug and kiss you, at the Rainbow Bridge. Gone from this world but never forgotten as our love forever lives on.
