Jamie, our 13-year old border collie
Our new pup, as yet unnamed
How to begin this blog entry? We lost our beloved 13-year old border collie, Jamie, this past week.
We came home from a late evening Radiohead concert and found her unable to get up to greet us as she had always done. She was responsive but not her usual self.
I slept on the kitchen floor with her that entire night.
The next morning we took her to the vet.
She had been treated for a leukemia diagnosis for the past six months but we didn't think this was her current acute health issue. She was absolutely fine when we left for the concert six hours earlier.
At any rate, we had to make the difficult decision the next morning at the vet's to put her down. She wasn't in distress. She wasn't in pain. Her acute episode -- a bleed into her abdominal cavity confirmed on X-ray -- let us know that she was not going to recover.
We miss her terribly. Willow, our 2-year old border collie, misses her terribly. Our hearts are broken.
We thought that the only way to help heal the holes in our hearts was to find another border collie to bestow our love on. For our own healing and for Willow's healing. To honor Jamie's contributions to our family.
We found a border collie breeder in Western Michigan and made the trip over the weekend to pick out a female pup from the litter. We chose this frisky little thing pictured above from the three females available.'
Yes, it's bittersweet to lose one companion while making plans to bring another one home.
Jamie is not being "replaced" -- because she is irreplaceable.
(Our next blog entry will share our experiences with bringing a new puppy home and our puppy naming adventure.)
Haiku:
Haley and Jamie
Two of our border collies
Frolic in Heaven.
super-sad. i only met jamie once, but kipling was right: losing a canine companion is heart-breaking.
ReplyDeletestill, congratulations on the new pup (i wouldn't object to her being named "mcgee," in case you were waiting for my blessing) - roo sends his love and sympathies, too. xx