Remembrance Ceremony

As I have written about in the past, we love the veterinary office where we take our dogs.  It is a state-of-the-art facility and we know that our dogs will receive the best care possible around the clock.  The staff is great and who does not appreciate that this is the kind of window art there?

I love Calvin and Hobbes

We trust every single one of Pender's veterinarians, but regular readers of this blog know that in our opinion, no one can hold a candle to our beloved Dr. T.  She is nothing short of a miracle worker and her passion for the care and well-being of animals is unmatched by anyone we have ever met.

Every year, Pender hosts a "Remembrance Ceremony" for pets who have passed away over the course of the year.  We attended four years ago, about a week after Molly passed away, and it was extremely emotional.  Our loss was too fresh and it almost hurt to sit through the beautiful ceremony.

Last year, we lost Gunni about two weeks before the ceremony and decided not to attend.  We simply weren't ready at that time.

With Duchess passing away in the spring this year, we had some time to process that loss before we received the invitation to this year's ceremony, and so we decided we would attend.  I emailed our RSVP and mentioned that we hadn’t gone last year because the event took place too soon after Gunni's death, and that when we had attended in 2010, Molly had just left us and we weren't able to submit her photo in time for the memorial slideshow.  The lovely woman who was organizing the event not only wanted a photo of Duchess, but also one of Gunni and Molly to include in this year's slideshow.  When I read her reply, I was overwhelmed by her generous offer to honor all three of our little dogs.

The ceremony took place on Saturday and it was absolutely wonderful.  The staff had written the name of each pet that had passed away on a Christmas tree ornament and the slideshow played for all to see while people shared stories of the pets they had loved and lost.

Had the weather not been miserable, we would have all gone outside and hung the ornaments in the trees in the memorial park outside the building, but Mother Nature was not on our side and so we were able to take the ornaments home with us.

I spoke about our three dogs and about Dr. T., who was in attendance at the event.  I shared the story of how she literally saved Duchess's life after that awful spider bite and how she was so good and so kind to us when we said goodbye to our three girls.

It was heartwarming to be in a room filled with others who had experienced a similar loss and who love their animals as deeply as we love ours.  The pets included many dogs and cats, a rabbit, a hamster, a lizard, a cockatiel, a parakeet, and a horse.  Some were old, some were young…some were taken suddenly, some were at peace after lengthy illnesses…but regardless of the details, everyone in that room was grieving.  Their stories made us both laugh and cry.

We chatted with some folks who could not believe that we lost three dogs in the span of three-and-a-half years and yet still adopted Sadie a few months ago, and one woman even made a point of coming and thanking us for rescuing senior dogs.  While we don't do it for any kind of accolades, it was nice for once to not be looked at as if we are insane for doing what we do.

It was a remarkable event that beautifully honored the little friends we have lost.  So while we started taking our dogs to Pender because of the medical and technological advantages they offer over other clinics, we continue to take our dogs there because of the level of love and care the Pender staff has for ALL of their clients – animals AND humans.

Happy Tails to you!