A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
~Irish Blessing
Hello everyone – My Mom thought we should let you all know that my sister Kirby died. She did pretty well for a long time, even after we started thinking it was going to be her time really soon. She had a great summer though, right next to me. Even though we called it the Summer of Lincoln, Kirbs got to do everything she wanted to do too. She hung out at the neighbors and enjoyed happy hour on the grass with us every night we were at the cabin. When you are old and sick like Kirbs, my Dad says there are no rules, so she got more treats than I could have ever imagined a dog could eat. So even though we are pretty sad right now, we know that Kirby had a really good 4 1/2 years with us. She was 12 when we adopted her, so we really never thought we’d get to have her around so long. My Mom says it’s like this saying from Annie, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
Even though it was hard, my Mom says that she has no doubts at all that it was the right thing to do and that it was time. We were out of town, so we went to my Aunt Robyn’s vet. Me, my Mom, and my Aunt Robyn went with her. Kirby was just laying there peacefully with her head on my Mom’s lap. While we were waiting, it seemed like she almost fell asleep, but she hadn’t had much sleep much the night before because her cancer was really hurting her. She cried out a couple of times in her sleep, and that was real hard for all of us. After the vet came in, I turned away because I didn’t want to watch it happen, but I had snuggled with her a little bit before the vet came in, and then I gave her a couple of licks after she died. That was my way of saying goodbye to our sweet old girl.
My Mom says that since all of the Tripawds people are sort of like family, she thought you would want to know. Even though Kirby isn’t a tripawd like I am, she was still a pretty cool old dog. I’m going to miss taking care of her, but I’m sure glad she isn’t hurting anymore. One thing I think we can all agree on is that CANCER TOTALLY SUCKS! Goodbye Kirbs, we’re all going to miss you.
Death a friend that alone can bring the peace his treasures cannot purchase, and remove the pain his physicians cannot cure.
~Mortimer Collins