soundboard de cheevo

This photo was taken on one of last afternoons I spent outside with Andi in her beloved back yard about a month ago. As weak as she became, there were a few times she mustered enough strength to get up and out to take care of bathroom business and to lie in the grass, absorbing the smells and sounds of outside for as many hours as we would allow her. Gathering the strength to get back inside was not her interest after an afternoon out. Who could blame her? When I look at these last pictures, I see her as being regal and wise, like she knew the answers to the big life questions. Recently I've gone back into the digital archives to look at Andi since August 2003. She was very well-documented and it gives me a lot of peace looking back at those years, knowing how happy she was. As sad as I am for myself, I am at peace with the amazing life this dog had and I feel absolutely certain that she knows how loved she was. In her lifetime, Andi survived cancer; was the star of many house par...

Tuesday, May 8 marked the last day on this plane for one of the most beloved creatures ever to come into my life. Andi was just shy of her tenth birthday and had sadly succumbed to heart failure, common among the big breeds like the Great Dane. I met her when I met Karen in October of 1999, when she was still a very playful and goofy two-year-old and she has been a staple in my life ever since. Her decline was hard to witness and her death was a relief in that her body was just worn out, but now its my heart and Karen's that have to heal. No matter how much I tried to prepare for the reality that Andi wouldn't likely live past 10, it still doesn't seem real that she's not here anymore. She was such a steady, positive force in my life. I hope I meet up with Andi again someday. She is truly one of my greatest loves, a friend that always knew how to cheer me up with her goofy humor and the games and rituals we used to share. Anderson Louise, as I renamed her, was always ha...