Dear Christine,
It is with a very heavy heart that I send you this email.
It has been slightly over a month since we had to say goodbye to our beloved Gracie. It has been the hardest month Rod and I have ever shared together and it’s only now that I can finally write and tell you this.
She had so many names to us.....Gracie Grace, Gracie Gray, Gracie Girl and towards the end I began to tell her she was Gracie the Good. And now to you, we again thank you for Gracie the Gift.
She truly was a blessing in our lives, a gift to all she met. She loved everyone who walked through our front door from the grandkids to the repair men.
What an amazing 10 years. So many good memories, playing in the meadow up at Shelton, so many great walks and journeys....discovering rabbits....slowly stalking them......sometimes thinking she was on point toward a rabbit only to discover that it was just a rock and looking a bit embarrassed, hoping we hadn’t noticed.
Christine, I am so grateful that you sent us the photos of Gracie when she was just a little pup. We really treasure those. You certainly had it right on her webpage. “She will steal your heart and make you laugh – guaranteed!”
Her over zealousness and her enthusiasm continued to shine through all the way to the end. She was such a trooper, so valiant and so loyal! She was the finest example of unconditional love in any animal we have ever known.
So, Christine as Gracie left us and we stepped into this unknown world of grief, both Rod and I felt it very important to let you know that Gracie is now running free and is no longer in pain. I know that we did not part under the best of circumstances and I hope you will know that this email is heartfelt. I hadn’t visited your website in 10 years and needed to find out how to reach you, so a couple of weeks ago I opened up your website and literally gasped when I saw Gracie’s beautiful relatives. I read all about True and all the new puppies and your move to the new house and how proud Mattie was to be a great grandmother.......and then tears were streaming down my face as I read about Mattie, Gracie’s mother and realized that 3 years ago you went through a nearly identical experience. I am so sorry about Mattie. I know you must still miss her terribly. I now understand.
You know Gracie was the brightest spot in our lives. Shortly after she came to live with us, we had lots of struggles with our teenage sons. She was our constant, our companion, our rock. And now, just in the last year or so, our boys have really come around and they are doing very well. I don’t think that was a coincidence.
Christine, I hope you will forgive us for the difficult circumstances under which we parted company. Please know that Gracie had a full and wonderful life. She brought us so much joy. We will love her forever and know that we will see her again on the other side of the bridge. On that heartbreaking Wednesday evening four and a half weeks ago I told her what I always would tell her when I’d come home from a business trip and she’d be so happy to see me. I reminded her that I ALWAYS come home to Gracie! I will always love the name you gave her: Cheyenne’s Gray Skies. We have such beautiful skies here in Colorado and a week after saying goodbye I was heading down C-470 and looked up at the sky and there were the most awesome gray clouds just the color of Gracie. It confirmed to me that our loved ones are never far away.
We wish you and all of your beautiful Weims the very BEST always,
Kate and Rod