Our time with a little girl who meant so much

We lost Gracie on Sunday March 25th and we're so sad. She's been our best friend for the past 9 years. She's a dog that's gone everywhere with us and has given us so many laughs, smiles, and love. To us, she's been the perfect dog. Beautiful, smart, playful, loyal, and loving. While we miss her dearly, we feel so lucky we were part of her pack.

We got Gracie during our senior year in college. Michelle took Matt on a surprise date to play with pups at the local humane society. After we had met all the other dogs at the shelter, we went to say hi to Gracie. While she looked so sweet she stood in the back of her pen too shy to come out and play, so we went to leave. We only got a few feet away before we heard her whining at the front of her pen asking us to come back. We let her out of her pen and she quickly warmed up while we played fetch. We didn't stand a chance of walking away without her. We were in love.

Gracie went everywhere and did everything with us. She always wanted to be with her pack. While she could be a real troublemaker from time to time, she was an absolute gift to us. 

Gracie loved the water

Gracie loved the snow

Gracie loved car rides

gracie loved to get muddy

Gracie loved the beach

Gracie hated being dressed up

Gracie loved squirells and chickens

Gracie was a bed hog

Gracie got very sick on a Saturday morning. We rushed her to the vet and they found a cancerous tumor in her heart that had ruptured. They pulled out the fluid and told us it was only a matter of time before it would fill back up again and again. Gracie had a few hours to a few weeks to live. The kindest nurse teared up as she told us to take Gracie home and give her as much love as much as possible for the short time we had left.

After a full 12 hours at Dove Lewis, Gracie was exhausted. She came home to her bed full of new toys and a bone, but she was ready for bed. Gracie got her usual spot at the foot of our bed and fell asleep before we had finished brushing our teeth. We stayed up to soak as much of Gracie in as we could between tears.

Gracie got so much love on her last day with us

Between belly rubs all day, she had a 'pupachino' from starbucks, went on a car ride, a few short walks, lots of treats, took a nap in the sun, worked on a bone, and had a visit from her favorite human (grandpa). Gracie held on and gave us a beautiful day to say goodbye before she had to go.

We buried Gracie so we can keep her close to us. We buried her with a few over her favorite things; one of Matt's old tennis shoes, her small orange ball, a bone, and a sock. A tennis shoe because she loved to greet us at the door with a shoe in her mouth and a wagging tail when we came home. She's also always take a shoe of ours to lay with while we were gone. Her favorite ball because she loved to chew on it for hours. A bone because like all other dogs she loved them so much! A small black sock because she would always steal our socks to gently nibble them in a way that made a squeaking noise. We planted a Japanese Dappled Willow over Gracie. It will grow wide branches to give her shade from the hot summer sun. Next to the tree we placed a concrete lioness that reminds us of our little girl.

We hope she knows how much she is loved. She's given us so much. Grace has been giving us small treats since she's passed. We sat on a bench at Mt. Tabor today that had a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Some people come into our lives, and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same."