Rainbow Bridge Memorial

Dearly missed by Judi Vail

The poem, Sundays Child, describes my boy Denali. He was born on Sunday October 5, 2014. Like the poem describes, he was beautiful and full of joy and happiness. I lost him last week to osteosarcoma, I am inconsolable.

Denali was not his racing name. I picked it for him because of its meaning. It means the great one. And he was a great dog.

He came home a very shy guy, afraid of almost anything. If someone would reach out to pet him he would cower. He was startled by any noise. Children made him very nervous. But we went everywhere. The number of outdoor restaurants and children’s soccer games we went to was comical. But the courage this little guy showed was incredible! He trusted me. And he slowly got accustomed to his new world.

All he needed was love and patience and kindness. He blossomed into the happiest silly guy imaginable and never lost his gentle soul. He loved to snuggle. And he loved everyone and every dog and would prance and wiggle up to everyone. He understood he would receive nothing but kindness. He did all the hardwork. I just went along for the ride.

We walked 3 to 5 miles daily in rotating parks. These were his sniffaris and he lived for them. If the weather was bad he would still drag me to my driveway to get in my SUV. Strangers would say what a beautiful dog …and I would always reply yes inside and out.

I lost him last week to osteosarcoma. I feel cheated out of at least 3 more years with him. My world revolved around him, Yes, I am devastated. I knew he was at risk for hyper fibrinolysis when I adopted him but wasn’t expecting something like this so suddenly. He didn’t deserve this. Our options were virtually nonexistent. So I held him in my arms and told him over and over how much I loved him and how proud I was of him.

I write because he deserves to have his memory honored, But also because I want to say to others, please don’t be afraid of a future loss. I have had greyhound people say to me, you got a good one. My reaction is they are all good ones. They may not come out of the box perfectly settled yet. The love these dogs give, the laughter they give is unlike anything else you will ever experience. If you are lucky enough to adopt a greyhound please cherish every moment.