Across The Rainbow Bridge.....
In memory of all the wonderful Collies who have shared our lives and continue to live on in our hearts.
Thorn
September 6th, 1994 - February 13th, 2007
Loved by,
Bill, Blythe, Emily, Cooper and
Thorn's 8 feline buddies
Bailey
CRN is sad to say that Bailey, also known as Boo-Boo to her foster dad, made her final visit to the vet in December. Bailey spent 2 years and 7 months in the Forever Foster program where she was loved unconditionally by her foster mom and dad. Bailey had been bounced around from home to home her entire life and when she settled so well into her foster home we decided it was time for this senior gal to unpack her leash for the last time. Bailey is now playing in the fields across the Rainbow Bridge - whole, healthy and pain-free once again. You will be missed Boo-Boo.
Shine
To my dear, sweet gentle boy, Shine
I love you and miss you very much.
Your quirky habits and sweetness grew on me and I will be forever grateful
that you came into my life, even if it was for a relatively short time.
The home is not the same without you.
Lily and Amber send their love and woofs and Darwin send a hiss!
Always,
Sabrina
Shine came to rescue in April of 2008 at age 11, when his young owner was moving and Shine could not go with her. We see a lot of seniors in rescue and almost all of them find their fur-ever homes. Over the year and a half that Shine was in foster care someone would occasionally remark about how it was sad that Shine had not found his new family and we would nod sadly and agree. However, near the end of Shine's life, while his quality of life was slipping daily away from him, we realized something wonderful.
Shine may not have found an adoptive family but he certainly had found his fur-ever home!
When Shine arrived at his foster home he was, well, out of sorts. He was anxious and whenever his foster mom would leave he would destroy things in the house (literally knocking paintings off the walls and moving furniture around). He would howl at the door, even if she was just outside in the garden. It was almost like a rebellious teenager had moved in with her! And then, suddenly, Shine just relaxed, settled in and was fine. It was like a switch was flipped - one day he was knocking over furniture in protest and the next he was curled up contentedly on his doggie bed, snoring. Shine had come to realize that no matter what he was doing, no matter how badly behaved he was acting something important had happened. His foster mom loved him unconditionally.
Shine knew he was Home long before we did, because dogs are occasionally just smarter than us that way a lot of the time. While we were out searching for his adoptive family, Shine must have been snickering to himself at our lack of insight as he merrily went about barking away those blowing leaves from his yard and nudged his Momma for more butt rubs.
On August 4th, 2009 Shine followed the path across the Rainbow Bridge while his mom spoke to him and let him know he would always be loved. She was there for him at the end, just like she'd always been there for him, ever since he'd found his way Home to her.
Was Shine adopted into a fur-ever home? Well, not literally I suppose and yet Shine did fine his fur-ever family. He just did it in foster care. Shine spent his days being loved by someone who was happy to see him every day. He was given Good Boy treats (sometimes just for being cute) and he slept soundly each night in a warm, safe house with the family who loved him. Shine taught us that while adoption is what rescues strive for, what we spend our time working towards with the dogs in our care - sometimes, Home really is where the love is and sometimes, once in awhile, adoption doesn't matter.
And so, with hearts that are saddened by his passing we are also joyful that Shine spent his days with the family who truly loved him in the end. We wish him carefree running over the fields of the Rainbow Bridge, chasing those pesky squirrels with a voice that is strong and powerful once again and on legs that are almost sturdy enough to catch them.
Happy romping Shine!
1997 - 2009
