Rainbow Bridge Memorial

Dearly missed by Sandy Therrien and Todd McPherson

SHADOW EULOGY

On July 25, 2003, a beautiful baby girl was born to DC Amazing Grace. She was black with white boots and a white chest. She was known in the racing world as Highwind Shadow. There is no history to be found for Shadow’s first three years of life. No races were registered under her name. We do know that when she was put up for adoption at 3 years of age she carried scars of unknown origin and was missing a toe.

In the fall of 2006, our family received the stamp of approval from GPI to adopt a greyhound. We drove from Vancouver, Canada, to Woodinville on a fall day with our three kids to meet the greyhound of our dreams. As we had a cat at the time and our youngest child was 3 years old, there were a limited number of eligible greyhounds that we were being introduced to.

I think we will all agree as a family that we didn’t pick Shadow that day, she picked us. There was an instant connection. The other greyhounds were lovely, but something clicked for us when Shadow came bounding into the yard. We weren’t allowed to take Shadow with us that day as she was recuperating from her surgery. She had suffered a classic case of happy tail, requiring a portion of her tail to be amputated.

Despite her “beat up” appearance Shadow had such a sweet demeanor. She was a rule follower and she would bark at the boys (we later adopted two male greyhounds) when she felt they needed to be put in their places. She was a mighty princess who had to be lifted into the car and onto our beds and she was a wild woman who loved to run around our yard and tease the boys. She would cry an unearthly cry when she heard us coming home and she would love to sneak up onto the couches to snuggle with the kids. She loved to go on walks. She loved to cockroach. She loved to lean. She loved to be loved.

In early September Shadow started limping and we assumed she had injured a muscle. When her limp didn’t improve, we took her to the vet and were heartbroken to hear that she had advanced osteosarcoma.

On September 18, 2012, Shadow passed over the Rainbow Bridge. She left peacefully, with dignity.

Shadow is truly missed by all of us.