I apologize for not posting this sooner, but it has been too hard to type the words. Gracie is no longer with us, but is still just as loved and cherished as she ever was. Our hearts are broken and we miss her day after day.
Our Gracie went through a lot. When she was young, she had both knees "done". She had a degenerative eye condition that slowly ate away at her irises, but that didn't stop her eyesight! She had allergies. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in August of 2011...and beat it. Her sister, Faith, knew there was something wrong. She saved Gracie's life. And in November of 2012, we thought she had a form of anemia. Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the bone cancer. Eventually, the cancer in her little vertebrae would grow, and grow rapidly, taking its toll on Gracie's tiny body.
To tell you just how tough she was, you need to know, as we learned, that bone cancer is among the most painful of cancers. Gracie was in very much pain. Our wonderful family veterinarians and an oncology veterinarian at UW Vet Hospital put her on multiple prescription pain pills, but we learned that even high levels of pain medication would not eliminate her discomfort.
Gracie was not about to let the pain discourage her. Even though the cancer eventually put pressure on her spinal cord, paralyzing her back legs, she was still the very hungry little girl we always had. She was still happy. She was still so loving. And boy, was she tough.
Through all of this, we have had the two best veterinarians anywhere. We praise God for them in our family's life. They went above and beyond to help Gracie, and were incredibly supportive to us. We are blessed!
Gracie was so funny. Her favorite toy the last few years was any yellow rubber ducky she could get her paws on! In fact, she was kind of OCD about it. She would take that ducky and bury it in her blanket. Then she'd move it to someone else's blanket and practice burying it there! When it was time for bed, she'd take that silly ducky with her. She was so obsessed with yellow duckies...never let her eyes off of them!
While we were waiting for Miss M to come home, Gracie would go lay in the nursery. Sometimes we would find her in there sleeping on the floor. She knew there was a baby coming, and she was waiting, too.
If I wrote down all the wonderful stories about Gracie, I'd be typing for hours. This post would never end! Gracie was, and will always be, one of the most special blessings given to us by God. We have said for years that we have been so blessed to be her mama and daddy. I have always said she was beautiful on the inside and the outside. She had a HUGE heart that filled her entire little self, an incredible sense of smelling your thoughts (she could smell you thinking about getting the cheese out of the fridge), very good knowledge of the system of drive-through frozen custard windows, fabulous eye to mouth coordination (including catching treats, other food, toys, and snowballs), she was a "hostess with the mostest" (everyone came to see her, of course), she loved Christmas and emptying her stocking and sleeping under the tree, loved everyone's birthdays and helped them open their gifts, and she loved. Loved us. Loved life. Loved her sister Faith. Loved to eat. Loved to play. Loved.
And is loved, forever.
My beautiful, beautiful girl.
