Yesterday morning, our beloved Anna Rose the Second left for the Rainbow Bridge while she was having her nightly power beauty nap. She had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure last year and was on medication, which had apparently handled it. Late last Thursday she hacked up phlegm, and again Friday night. Saturday she continued to expectorate, and we attempted to get her to the vet to soothe her Dad's fears. The office closed early but since she had an appointment for today and was not in any pain or distress, we thought she would be ok until her appointment. I had to syringe water for her as she was not interested in either her food or her water dish- wanting only to sleep. (Her usual behavior when she has been on crate rest in the past) When we went to bed at midnight, she fell asleep near my head and later buried herself underneath all of the covers, which she has never done in the six years that she has lived with us. Around 4:40 in the morning her Dad woke up and checked on her- discovering that his angel had earned her wings. He woke me and we wrapped her up and placed her in a box and called the vet's office.
Sunday was a long day and Geoff was and continues to be grief stricken- no owner to tell him that he could share her recliner, no owner to be carried in and out for her tours of the backyard, no owner demanding her meals, no owner needing to be taken to her big bed for the night.
This morning, I put her in the car for one last trip, but Geoff could not bring himself to look. I arrived shortly after 8 to find that the office had only just heard our messages from the day before. My grief was manifested with the weight on my chest which threatened to break out when I had to pick out her urn. I was finally able to cry once I left the office.
Geoff will be bringing Anna home next week- one final ride in his work truck. Appropriate as she is the only one to have ever ridden in it and she loved going car with her Daddy.
Please keep Geoff, Snoopy, Sweetie and I in your prayers- two food bowls are simply not enough.
