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The following memorials are from 2009.

AUTUMN... from Autumn's Mom:

Autumn ... My Rock, Purple Passion, The Instigator, The Load ... was helped to the Rainbow Bridge late afternoon on Friday October 9th; she went peacefully and is now free of the pain of Osteosarcoma.

As easy as it is to understand why she was called to the Bridge – it is difficult to be without her. Adopting Autumn 10 months after adopting Kia re-introduced us to a grounded, calm and sane home! What’s easy to imagine is that your friends and mine at the Bridge received the jolt of a lifetime when Kia arrived just 10 months ago. I can hear them all saying, “What is this dervish being called Kia?” G_d called Autumn to the Bridge to help up there as she helped me here. If we listen, we may hear sighs of relief as our friends realize Autumn is there and beginning to offset Kia’s free spirit and wild being!

I had 10 months of one-on-one time with Autumn – to give to her – as repayment for the six years she gave to me. Dog camp 2009 was the highlight of our special time.

Autumn won’t be trotting up to the refrigerator when I dispense ice cubes for my Diet Coke or water. She won’t lope along, tail flying, like a hobby horse. But she will always be with me – in my heart and in how I look at the world. She helped me be a better person. The most memorable event ... how she looked very, very deeply into my eyes on the third morning we had her – she touched my heart and soul as she let me know “I’m home now!”

Look up tonight to see the new star in the sky – you’ll know which one is Autumn, it’s the one that winks instead of twinkling!

Godspeed, Big Girl!
Love,
Ellen

MAGGIE... from Maggie's Mom:

Our beautiful golden girl Maggie, Queen of Pretty Much Everything, left for the bridge on October 6, 2009, after giving us her best for 12 years. Joining us in missing her terribly is her best buddy, Abby, an RFSC grad from 1998. Maggie was the smartest, gentlest, and sweetest dog I've ever known, and did exactly what she wanted to do, when she wanted to do it. Godspeed Maggie, be well and happy until we meet again.

ANNIE... from RFSC:

It's a sad day for us here at RFSC. Many of you had seen Annie on our web page, she was available for adoption. She came to us in such bad shape, most people who came to visit her could not believe what they were seeing. This precious golden retriever was left in an apartment when her owners moved. The manager opened up the door and found this poor girl in bad shape. She then spent 2 weeks at the shelter.

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers, she was rescued from the shelter and brought to us here at RFSC. Half of Annie's coat was a greasy matted mess that stuck to her body. The back half of her coat was gone due to a flea and tick infestation and poor diet.

We gave Annie a medicated bath and a good dinner and a soft bed the first night. Annie slowly began to lift her head and shine with all the love she received knowing we cared for her, she now belonged. Here is a picture of Annie after being with us for only a week. We received an email from Kathy and Alisa who said they would like to give Annie a loving home and make her part of their family. They wanted to come right away for her and promised her a life of love and kindness. We were all thrilled and so excited for Annie to be getting such a nice home.

Annie had some moles under her eyes that needed to be removed before she went home. She went in for her surgery and a check up. When Dr Jane looked her over she felt a big lump up in her abdomen. During the surgery she was able to take a closer look inside Annie's abdomen, the news was not good. Annie had a Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen and liver. A large mass developed in the liver or spleen. These tumors metastasize rapidly via hematogenous routes most frequently to the liver (from the spleen). These tumors can rupture leading to acute hemorrhage, collapse and sudden death.

We did not want Annie to suffer and chose to not wake her up from the surgery. We were with her and kissed her beautiful face as she quietly passed.

Thank you to the wonderful volunteers that rescued Annie. All your hours of time and money spent on gas to transport her to RFSC. You were the ones that made the difference for Annie. Her last week of her life was spent in a loving home.

We will not forget you Annie.
9-01-09

CHINA... from China's Family:

It is with great sadness that I send you this info for your memorial page: We adopted China in the spring of 2003 after she had been turned in to you by a breeder. We gave her a well-deserved retirement and adored her calm, sweet disposition for the 6 1/2 years we were blessed to have her. Her health stayed great until very recently when a brain tumor took her away from us. I attach a picture of her in one of her favorite poses.

BOOMER... from Boomer's Family:

I’m sorry to let you know that we had to put our beautiful Chocolate Lab, Boomer down last evening. You may recall, we adopted Boomer from BARC in 1999, and came back in June, 2008 with him to find a companion. We ended up taking Samantha (another beautiful Chocolate Lab) home with us, up until last November when Boomer developed a liver infection, all was good.

Boomer was fighting hepatitis for the last few months (the consensus is that it could’ve been brought on by the November infection). Last Sunday we took him to the hospital emergency room and discovered that he’d developed an irregular heartbeat, unknown infection, leaking air from the lungs, etc. His condition kept declining, and we could not watch him suffer any more All of the family, including Samantha was with him when he went. We all hope that he was finally at peace. And although there’s a lot of grief we’re all trying to deal with, I think everyone feels we made the right decision.

Next to my wife, Boomer was my best friend. No dog will every replace him. I think that we’ll most likely be making another visit to you, but it’s probably going to be a while.

Additional Memorial pages: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3

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