Rio

I don’t remember a day without her. Our beautiful Rio. Now, the house feels too quiet, empty. The kind and gentle Dr. Stephanie visited us on Friday, March 23, 2018, to euthanize Rio after we learned she had a large mass in her abdomen. Nearly 12 years ago, Rio bounded into our world. Her beautiful brown eyes made me melt as she destroyed our backyard landscaping. Her resume of destruction that first year was pretty spectacular. Still, even as she was digging up my rose bushes, she had the heart to trot into the house and spit her puppy teeth into my hands when they fell out. Rio came into my life at a time when I really needed her. She saved me mentally and, on a few occasions, physically. I can never repay that devotion, that love. Like me, she came from the back roads of Weld County. She knew how to effortlessly navigate irrigation ditches, how to corner the backyard rabbits, and how to send a chattering squirrel up a tree. Her spirit was pure, beautiful, badass.