July 6, 2019
Tomorrow will be one year since we lost our sweet Holly to cancer. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about her and miss her. As Holly would have said, we still “leak from our eyeholes” frequently. She was sweet, kind, smart, and a little goofy at times. She was strong and she fought hard against her cancer. She amazed us every single day. Holly enjoyed every day that she had. She was happy and strong up until her last day. We loved and still love her incredibly. She loved us right back just as much. We miss her goofy smile and her silly antics. We can only hope that she is smiling down as our little guardian angel as she watched us navigate through this last year.
This past year hasn’t been easy as we also lost Holly’s furbrother, Ace, seven months after we lost Holly. Ace was diagnosed with a different type of cancer shortly after Holly was diagnosed. They were both going through treatment together last year. They went together to see the Oncologist for their appointments and formed their own little support system. We have no doubt that Holly was there waiting to greet Ace and “show him the ropes” when he arrived at the Rainbow Bridge last February. We know that they are both together again, along with other members of their pack that passed previously, playing, running and now healthy as they watch over us together.
Along with the tears that we still shed, we hold on to the memories and the lessons that Holly taught us. We often find ourselves laughing through the tears at times in regards to the way that Holly often chose to show us just how very strong she was. One memory in particular has always brought a smile. Shortly after her amputation last year Holly wanted to go outside during a winter snow storm to play with her pack. She had never done the stairs out back before and we were pretty sure, as she sat at the window watching her pack play, that if we opened to door to let her outside that she would sit on the top deck with us. Nope, we were wrong, so very, very wrong. We opened that back door and she bounded down those steps, wagging her tail and then rolling in the snow. She showed 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.
Holly going through what she did changed our perspective on so many things, as most dogs do teach and change their parents in some way. We learn from them just as much as they learn from us. One thing Holly taught us about was resilience. We continue to foster for a local rescue. A few months after losing Holly we opened our home to foster another tripaw. Previously, we would have been worried about fostering a tripaw. We would have been concerned about our other furkids bumping into them, the stairs in our home and our slippery floors. Holly taught us that with the proper tools (rugs, ramps, etc.) and a lot of love that everything would be just fine. What Holly taught us paved the way for us to foster another tripaw.
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.
