Grace is the dog currently in our blog's masthead (yes, she has 3 legs in the picture). Brian, one of her pet parents, wrote this beautiful piece for Grace after she succumbed to cancer a few days ago and I thought I would share it with you so we can all spare a thought for a dog who will be greatly missed.
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At 6:00 pm last night (Tuesday, 5/9/06), Hudson, Ohio’s 3-legged Church Street mascot, Grace D. Dog, was put to rest. She was an 11 year old chocolate lab. Her people were Mary McDonald and Brian Diehl.
After about a week of Mary medicating Grace for an upper respiratory infection, the pup’s hacking and coughing continued. Even her doctor missed that Grace’s cancer had returned and had metastasized in her lungs.
Grace’s breathing was labored and she was alert when Mary took her to the vet’s (Metropolitan Vet Clinic, Copley, Ohio). Luckily, Mary got hold of me just before I was about to set my phone down to exercise. I raced from the gym and arrived at the vet’s in time to hear the doctor’s assessment. They found fluid in her lungs and they said that anything they could do would just be “heroics.” So, the difficult decision was made quickly – and (alas) fairly easily. We had about 5 – 10 minutes of hugging and kissing our precious little one and then the doctor administered the drugs that forever put her to rest.
In June of 2001, Mary found Grace in the parking lot of Grace United Church of Christ, in Uniontown, Ohio. The overweight, dehydrated dog had obviously lost her people, so Mary and I took her in and placed “Found Dog” signs all over the town. I never wanted a dog and had no interest in having one in my house. We finally received a call from a man who ran an animal shelter. He said that he had placed her in a home just two or three days earlier and that the young, new pet owner’s mother had apparently abandoned the dog (dropping her off about 10 miles away from their house). Mary named Grace after the church as a temporary moniker, but it stuck. Grace loved swimming in the ocean, rolling in snow (see attached), riding in the car and rolling in smelly things. Yes, I had quite a bit in common with her.
We were blessed to have Grace in our lives – she taught me many things…most importantly that I love dogs and I will always want one in my life!
Grace had a blessed life; she lived 31 months past her amputation and Chemo, just in time for her to be featured as “Miss May” on the Sanctuary for Senior Dogs 2006 calendar (photo attached). She befriended everyone who met her and certainly converted a lot of people into dog fans.
For those of you who knew the Grace dog, smile and do your best to carry her gleeful, honest approach to life into yours.
All my best,
Brian
