Monday, June 10, 2019

After 136 Days - Good-Bye to Joy

After 136 days, and for the second time in 16 days, today we said our goodbyes to Joy. Her strength and her smile along with the bright spark that always brought a smile to my face was gone. It was her time.
~Joy on the day we met~
We first met Joy in January, after she'd gotten so ill from eating a 5 pound filet of salmon. I felt like when she came to us, it was a new beginning. I had such dreams for this very brave, resilient, sweet little Golden Retriever who'd been found as a stray in West Virginia. But those dreams that so many of us had for Joy were not meant to be when the diagnosis came that she had lymphoma.

But Joy didn't know she had cancer.  She enjoyed the moments of being outside in the cool grass and the little bit of snow we had this year. She never worried about time, or complained - She and all dogs remind us to not do that. They truly do teach us what it means to have joy, to be alive - without judgement, just pure gratitude and happiness. This was how Joy lived every day she was with us.  Our days with her were truly a gift.  I knew that then, and even more so now.

So, as the day ends without Joy, and as I write this, I'm reminded of how very sad and hard these moments are for me. And as I look through the pictures I have of Joy, I wish I had more. I wish I could do the last 136 days with her all over again....... I wish....


God speed Jo-Jo...Our candle is lit to help you find your way back to the one who created you. And tonight, before I go to bed, I'll stand on the porch, and look out into the darkness and say a silent prayer of thanks for having the chance to know you and love you. 

The color I have chosen as Joy's is yellow.  Today as I was taking Joy to the vet, I noticed the mullein that is blooming in the fields....
It reminded me of the yellow flowers on her collar. Yellow is also the color for freshness, happiness, positivity, energy, remembrance, and joy.   All of those things that Joy was and will be remembered for.  

29 comments:

  1. Go in peace Joy. Hugs to all at Golden Pines as you miss her. Thank you Kim and Carl for opening your hearts and home to these dogs and all the joy and sorrow that comes with them. I know I could not do this, and I am ever so grateful that your can do it and choose to do it.

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  2. Thanking you for caring for Joy & loving her. Run in paradise sweet Joy.

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  3. I an so glad that Joy and all of the others have you in their life. You make their life so very happy for what they have left. May God Bless You and your family. May God keep all of these loving dogs until you see them again.

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  4. Hello, RIP sweet Joy! I am glad she could spent her last days with you being happy. Hugs to you and all your dogs.

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  5. Joy proved that there is such beauty in aging. I am so glad that her last days were full of love and peace.

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  6. my heart to yours darling girl. keeper of the ever changing crew whose lives you share so lovingly with us. just to look into their faces is a precious gift. thank you Kim. strength and blessings to you. and the memories of Joy. always. xoxo

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  7. With apologies to Oklahoma, I hate those things that end in "oma".

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  8. We totally know how you feel. In 2017 we had lost two of ours on month apart. It is really hard and like I have said before: you are special people taking in dogs that you know have very limited times sometimes. They have the best life just knowing someone loved them like you did at the end. All your dogs are special.

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  9. bobj32370@gmail.com












    So very sorry.

    Godspeed Joy, until we meet again


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  10. Once again, condolences to you all at Golden Pines. You gave Joy so much love and care in her final months, and there will be friends to greet her at the Rainbow Bridge.
    I'm not sure how you find such strength to carry on, but your gentle words on the loss of each of your very special pups brings comfort to us all.
    Thinking of you.

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  11. I'm so sorry for your loss. Joy was very lucky to have found you for her final chapter. She left this world knowing she was loved and cared for. What more could a former stray ask for.

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  12. We're so sorry to hear about Joy. What a sweet girlie! She was so lucky she had you and your family to make her last days so full of love and caring.

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  13. In such a short period of time, you invested so much hope and caring in Joy. Thank you for easing her last seasons.

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  14. God speed, dear Joy. I have a Rainbow Bridge candle and once again I will light it tonight.

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  15. Sweet Joy was so blessed to have been loved so much for those 136 days. Bless you for giving your heart to these precious souls
    love
    Mabel & Hilda

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  16. I'm so sorry -- bless you for what you gave to her.

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  17. So very sorry for your loss. We bet those 136 days with you brought great joy to Joy. Soft woos and gentle hugs from all of us.

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber, and Mom too

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  18. Those 136 days with you were probably the very best days of her life where she felt loved and protected. RIP beautiful girl knowing how much you were loved. I'm so sorry her time with you had to end. Hugs

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  19. I'm so very sorry for your loss. It's too much loss for you recently -sending huge hugs and love. Joy brought so much - joy - to your life in such a short time. You brought her so much happiness and love for her last days. ♥♥

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  20. Kim, this is heart breaking. We are so sorry
    love
    tweedles

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  21. Thank you for giving Joy all of those days of happiness, peace, and the feeling of being loved. You gave her an incredible gift. Sending you hugs. Rest in peace, Joy.

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  22. Dear Kim, you just said goodbye to Cissy and now Joy. I'm so sorry, I don't have the words right now. You had them though, you post is beautiful in its understanding of how dogs come into our lives and bring us so much happiness just BEING. Dogs are all the things you described and we humans need all that. They truly bring us so much joy. And I'm so sorry Joy couldn't stay with you a little longer, but I know she knew she had come home at last.

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  23. Godspeed, dear Joy - she was rightly named. So sorry for your heartbreaking losses.

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  24. Very sorry for your loss of the sunny Joy - as always when this happens, I also have a heart filled with gratitude and admiration for the special time you had with these much loved creatures. Not many people can do what you do, it is a thing of great beauty and such a kindness. *hugs* and much love.

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  25. Hi hi hi! Ojo here! We are sending much love. It sounds like Joy was lucky to find you, and you were lucky to find Joy. <3

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Speak--I really enjoy your comments! Thanks for stopping by today!!