Not quite the triumphant return I imagined when I reinstalled WordPress for this site a couple of weeks ago, but life doesn’t always go the way we plan…
Last Tuesday, our dearest Winston crossed the rainbow bridge. He was at least 13 years old (he was a rescue dog, so we’re not sure exactly), and in the last couple of weeks his hip and knee joints had started to fail him in a big way. Despite medication and support from me, he was unable to walk most of the time, and at times in a great deal of pain. Thus we made the decision to let him go. All of his family held him and patted him as the vet did the injection, and I had my hand resting on his chest as his heart stopped.
It’s a funny story how he came into out lives. My sister fostered dogs for a volunteer pet rescue organisation. Winston had been found abandoned at a rental property, and he had a lot of behavioural issues from mistreatment in his early years. We weren’t looking for another dog, especially not a Labrador cross, but as soon as my sister let him into the room, he charged across the room and climbed into my lap. We weren’t looking for a dog, but he was looking for a family.
We all miss him greatly, and he was such a big and important part of our lives. Things feel kinda empty now, but we know we gave him the best life we could after the horrible start it had.
See you on the other side my friend, I’ll bring a tennis ball for you.