Goodbye To A Piece of My Heart
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 6:30AM On November 21, 2011, I had to say goodbye to a piece of my heart. Mazlon came into my life on Dec 6, 2000. I had planned on doing Search & Rescue with her, but after working the Pentagon on Sept 11, I decided that I couldn't ask my child to do that. It turned out that Mazlon also had bad hips so it is proably a good thing that we never continued with the training. For the past 11 years, Mazlon went just about everywhere with me ... to work, to the squad, to friends houses, on portrait sessions, and helped raise my nephews.
Mazlon LOVED little critters and was constantly bringing me baby squirrels, baby rabbits, baby anything. Not a hair would be harmed on their heads and Mazlon always looked so proud of herself. Soooo ... I would carefully put them in a box and treck out to Second Chance Wildlife Rescue much to the disappointment of Mazlon. She loved her kitties and when Misha died, she went into a severe depression. It wasn't until I brought Leprechaun into the household long before I was ready that Mazlon started eating and playing again. Lep and Maz bonded and I became the incidental feeding machine for Leprechaun. Mazlon was definately the center of his world.
When I opened the door for the final time to carry Mazlon to the car as she could no longer stand or walk, I noticed that the herd of deer that Mazlon loved to chase and would often wait for Mazlon to catch up to them was standing at the edge of the woods in front of my house as if to say goodbye. It was as if God were giving me the final sign that it was time to let her move on to the Rainbow Bridge.
I know Mazlon is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge happily gathering up chipmunks, squirrels, and baby rabbits caring for and making a home for them. It is going to be a painful adjustment for me and my other fur kids. She had a wonderful final weekend in West Virginia where she got to sniff the smells of the past 150 years in Harpers Ferry and wade in the Shenandoah River ... swimming was her favorite sport.
Goodbye To My Heart from Lida Verner on Vimeo.
On November 21, 2011, I had to say goodbye to a piece of my heart. This tribute video is a therapy for me and is comprised of a mixture of images I have taken over the past 11 years. Some of the images are of pretty poor quality taken with phone cameras and some of the earliest digital cameras. It is a long video (12 minutes) but since it was done primarily for me, I wasn't concerned about the length.
Mazlon, I miss you. You will always be in my heart. Have a blast at the Rainbow Bridge.
The songs used in this video are:
"All This Joy" by John Denver http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-this-joy/id428820994?i=428821025
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/somewhere-over-the-rainbow/id6920402?i=6920394
"Only the Ones We Love" by Tanita Tikaram
Reader Comments (4)
Jeez. I got teary eyed. I lost a pet once. Until now, I don't know where she is. I miss her so much. It feels like I lost a piece of my heart too.
Great piece! I cried since I had to do the same thing with my wonderful dog Copper. She had degenerative hip dysplasia that resulted in the same thing, except God did not send the deer Copper used to love running out of our back yard. No matter what, my next dog, will not be driven anywhere, she will be euthanized at our home, if nature does not take her first.
What a wonderful tribute to a well loved companion..My heart breaks for your loss Lida...My girls and I send our love and support.
That was such a beautiful tribute to a beautiful golden retriever. You were truly blessed to have been a part of her life all these years. My golden retriever has been gone for nine months and I still miss him every day.