NorthWapiti's Super Grover
July 13, 1996 - October 30, 2006

Over the years, I've said goodbye to many of my canine companions. Many very special ones have passed, breaking our hearts and causing much sorrow in our lives. Skeeter, Libby, Minnow, Charlie, Allie, Orion, Spud, Buddy, Howl, Breezy and many more have shared our lives and then left, teaching us lessons about loving and losing along the way. I thought I was a good student. I understand that this is the inevitable end of any canine/human relationship and as painful as the end is, the relationship has always been worth it.

This morning though, I feel like my heart has been torn out of my chest and stomped to a pulp. I feel wrecked and broken - and a failure at the school of loss.

I'm sure most of you have figured out where this is going by now, yesterday evening, very quickly and - despite his recent illness - very unexpectedly, Grover left us.

The details of his passing are just cruel and heartbreaking. The short version of it is that Grover and I had a wonderful day together yesterday. He seemed almost himself again. He and I ran into Westlock to do some errands late in the afternoon, including a quick stop at the vet clinic for the vets to take a look at him. Trevor was as optimistic as I about his recovery.

He has always been a great traveler and he rode home comfortably in his crate in the back of the van, except about 20 minutes from home he let out a very mournful howl - just one - one that I now know will haunt me forever. I assured him we would be home soon and flipped on the interior light in the van to make sure he didn't need to stop for a break. He seemed to be resting contentedly.

When I arrived home and opened the back of the van to let him out, he was gone.

I spoke with my vet last night and he warned me that we might never know what happened. Although I am taking him in for a necropsy today, I don't think answers are going to help anyway - they certainly won't bring him back.

I looked for a quote to include in this email, but nothing seemed right. This is all I found - 

Tears are words the heart can't express

And that is where I sit this morning - without the words to express this loss, just the tears.

I loved him so much,

Karen