If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that over the holidays, Daisy, my eleven year old golden retriever died. We were all together as a family, including our one year old golden, Lilly. On Daisy’s last day, we took her to the beach, her favourite beach. She loved the visit, and she told us when it was time to go. We took her lead.
As my constant companion, Daisy has given me many gifts. Her presence with every project I’ve undertaken in the garden, to lying by my side as I knit, to writing and photographing for my book.
Her presence has impacted many of my closest friends, and I feel upset thinking that tears have been shed on two continents as a result of the loss of Daisy in this world as they reflect on their time with her at tea in the garden or walks on the beach.
My dear friends have written heartfelt pieces that have made be laugh and then cry again. It is true as one friend puts it: Dogs’ lives are too short; their only fault, really.
Another wise friend wrote: “Dogs do teach us to be better humans. They take a piece of our hearts with them when they leave, but they also leave a part of their heart with us, so in a sense, we stay in each other’s hearts”.
I must say that I laughed out loud when I read one friend say: “If I ever stop eating you’ll know I’m not long for this world”. Given that rejecting her food was the first real sign that Daisy was very unwell.
Many people have asked about how Lilly is doing. She sniffed Daisy’s body, so that she would know what had happened to her. She didn’t look for her the next morning as was her habit after every nap, every separate excursion and every morning. We bought her a new toy, she came into the pet store; we’ve enrolled in a dog class {I love the title}: Family Dog Fundamentals, we have carried on her routine, and gone for longer walks. I know that she is little subdued nevertheless. We both are. It’s loss. It’s sad. It’s life. However sad I have felt leading up to loosing my companion, I wouldn’t give up the last 11 years for anything. This picture is taken a couple of years ago when Daisy was supervising the building of a shake roof for the shed. Every supervisor should be so supportive.
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