Today we had to let go of our beautiful Daisy. She put up a brilliant fight but lost the battle to her chronic liver disease. Daisy marked our life with a brightness that only a wonderful canine can. Reflecting on our past is necessary, but also painful. In time, those are memories that give us meaning to the name or even the word “Daisy.” For nine years, nine months, and 15 days, Daisy brought nothing but absolute joy to our lives. Arriving as a Christmas gift in 2001, Daisy developed into a companion that saw us through most of our adult lives to date. From acceptance to graduate and pharmacy schools, to helping me propose to Elizabeth, Daisy played a part in it all. She helped to make our home complete. For nine years (even in her final days) we were met at the door with a stuffed animal and a huge tail wag!! Her love seemed to permeate whatever emotional shield put up by our roughest days. Somehow laying with her made everything much better. She had a love of people (most markedly her grandmother Karen), other dogs, little children, and mostly food. Daisy was the most tolerant dog that ever lived. That was evident in how she allowed Swerve (our male cat) to love and hug on her daily. She sacrificed her own comfort so that others could be happy. Often times, she could be found locked in our niece’s room while Reagan dressed her up and put bows all over her. But Daisy never minded, and she just smiled all the way through.
Towards the end, we knew our time with her was marked. We had no idea it would go downhill so quickly, but we are grateful she did not suffer long. We were so thankful to have this last week with her. It was such a blessing to be able to love her completely, and be such a big part of her last days. Her last breath was taken with us hugging her, and telling her how much we loved her. We know she is in heaven, full of life and void of her suffering. All of the pain and discomfort she felt, we have now taken for her. She has moved on to brighten others’ lives as richly as she did ours. We pray that one day we will be lucky enough to join her again. For sure when we get to Heaven, there will be a stuffed animal and a huge tail wag to greet us!!
