Dear Home to Heaven,
Attached please find a very recent picture of Gracie with her buddy, Tucker, the parakeet. What I most admired about Gracie was her love of my critters. As a foster parent for the Boulder Humane Society, I have brought home all sorts of little animals over the last 10 years. Gracie has warmly greeted them all. She would inspect each one as they arrived and promptly sit down by any cage for hours just looking at them and snoozing. When a bunny would hop out of the cage to expore or a ferret would boldly come over for a sniff she would greet and nudge and try to play.
I have had pet rats over the years and those were her favorites. The rats adored her and she invented gentle little games like taking a lick at their tails as they ran by or bouncing around the cage as they climbed the bars trying to keep up with her movements. One rat, Cleo, was dying, so I placed her in a shoebox on the floor. Gracie laid by the box and licked her and slept by her until she passed on.
Tucker was her favorite. This little bird actually thinks he’s a dog. He would fly down to the floor and chase the ball with the dogs (scaring us all!). In this picture, he was walking around saying “step up,” and “kiss, kiss”. He would nibble her fur and she would just look on.
When she first came to us at 8 weeks old we had lofty ideals. Agility training was my dream for her. Early detection of a bad hip dashed my hopes. A diagnosis of Addison’s disease before her 2nd birthday was another devestating blow. We feared she wouldn’t last long. However, with careful health management she went on to live almost 9 more happy years. Instead of being an agility dog, she became a loving caretaker and inspiring representative of her breed. It’s funny how she never climbed a ladder or sped through a tunnel for a ribbon. She simply awed us every day with her love of critters – from the goldfish to the crazy ferrets.
Kristen, the vet from Home to Heaven, was a compassionate and caring professional. As difficult as it was, she helped us all find peace in Gracie’s final moments with our family. I simply can’t imagine any other way to have been more loving and kind to our treasured friend who no longer has to live with physical pain. I will always be grateful for the honor and dignity Home to Heaven bestowed that day.
Gracie would have been 11 in July of this year and will be truly missed. Her pack included our daughters, Brittany (16) and Victoria (14) and little dog, Penny (4). While we mourn her passing, we will always stand in awe and cherish our years with Amazing Grace.
To anyone making this difficult choice, Home to Heaven is my recommendation.
Sincere thanks from the Frysinger family
and Tucker!