Kitty. Allow me the opportunity to exaggerate a bit and suggest that there has never been a longer-lived rescue. Okay, that's very unlikely to be true, but Sarah and I first got to meet Kitty, along with Deco, in November, 2005. And Kitty lived to a remarkable 12 years, passing on September 20, 2014. She had been a rescue dog before coming to us, having spent a year with Deco in the original rescue's home.
In the spring of 2005, Sarah and I applied to Great Dane Rescue, Inc., having decided that the breed that we should bring into our home will be a Great Dane. We had the home check in April, if memory serves, and the volunteers came over to the house to have us see their own rescue in our house. Our cat wasn't sure about this whole experience, but didn't seem overwhelmed. Time passed, and we were contacted by the rescue in November that there was a pair of bonded female Great Danes that were cat-friendly and wouldn't be split up. But if we wanted them, we could make them our new pack.
I wasn't sure. I thought that getting one would be a commitment, but two? Sarah was on-board from the beginning, but I took a couple of days. And then I learned that I could meet them, on the sly. Sarah was working, so she couldn't go. I didn't tell her, and I went to the November 2005 Great Dane meetup, and met with Marilyn and Dixie and Mystic. It went well, and so I came away from the meetup and told Sarah that I had done this. This frustrated Sarah that we didn't meet them together, so we immediately met them together the next day. A couple of weeks later, the pair came home with us.
Needless to say, that's how we began this wonderful journey with Great Danes. We immediately began volunteering with GDRI. We would take them on any vacation that we could, and can't imagine life without them.
As we bonded with the dogs, it seemed that Deco was a little more of Sarah's dog, and Kitty, mine. So when Deco passed, it was heartbreaking for us, and we worried a bit for Kitty. For seven of her 9 years had been spent with Deco. How would Kitty be without Deco? She and Danforth never really figured out who the boss was, but it didn't seem to bother Kitty. She was a bright, shining diamond of a Great Dane. We continued to experience life with her at our side. And now it's our loss to continue without her. As time went, I had a ridiculous secret hope that she could live forever. But in 2013, she started to have a harder time, and by late summer, I just wanter her to live to the winter, to be able to experience the snow, as she really loved it. As it turned out, she saw the winter, and then some, living to a wonderful 12 years old. An uncommon age for the breed. Things didn't get easier for her as time passed, but she never slowed down. She wanted the walks just as badly as she did at 3 years old. She just couldn't chase the other dogs in the off-leash park like she used to. But right until the very end, she wanted to live life to her fullest, and we wanted nothing but for her to grab hold of it. She was our princess.
As I type this, we've just had our first snowfall of the upcoming winter for 2014-2015. Kitty loved the snow. She loved hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and walking like a billy-goat on hills. But she loved the snow. This will be our first winter in 10 years to not be sharing it with Kitty. I'm not saying that the upcoming winter will be a sad one. This winter just won't be the same without her. But we want to thank Kitty. She introduced us to a joy that continues to this day.
There are many other pictures in the other sections, and until now, Kitty has been a part of it all. Below are some photos that aren't found in other sections. There is no way to try to capture our Kitty. The below is the tip of the iceberg.
