In MEMORIUM: Christie M's WILLOW

[johninny]

looking at NADSR's Facebook today, there is now an extensive tribute to Christie and to the memory of her seminally important DS WILLOW, who departed this world one week ago. Thought everyone here should not only know of this, but should go see and read the postings for themselves. I wept for Christie and Willow and i still am. There are rare occasions when another being opens up an entirely new and wonderful world for a lucky few of us - and it seems Willow did that for Christie as TraceDog did so for me. It is a truly horrible loss to bear and, though eventually inevitable, i am very sorry that Christie must experience that now.

http://www.dutchshepherdrescue.org
there is a photographic tribute following the written tribute.
[ not my place to post in the In Memorium section, but believe this deserves extraordinary notice ]

[Dutchringgirl]

**sniff** **owuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu* *woof*

[Nordis]

Thank you John. I'm in complete agreement with everything you have said so eloquently.

Rorhin keeps me happy and makes life bearable, bringing laughter and joy to my life everyday. That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Christie's efforts to create North American Dutch Shepherd Rescue. My gratitude to Christie and Trudy et al is endless.

I avoid the In Memorium thread and any such situations as much as possible. I'm sure we all can understand why. But having seen the posting on Facebook, I came here also because I want to express my support for Christie to whom I feel indebted. I certainly do hope this isn't considered an invasion of privacy. I say that because for me, I withdraw from the world during difficult times.

I want to again express my most heartfelt and deepest condolence to Christie. I too cry for you. I wish you Much Love and Peace. Thank you for what you have given. Know that you are very appreciated and I send you love, peace, and support.

[LyonsFamily]

Such a wonderful tribute to someone who has helped so many dogs. It's always hard to lose a dog, but there are those few that come through that are true heart dogs and it seems that Willow had a great impact in Christie's life and the future of the breed.

I'm grateful that NADSR not only provides the pulling, vetting, fostering, and screening of applicants for their own dogs, but courtesy posts DS in other shelters as well. My Odin was a courtesy posting there. There's often too much unneeded competition in the rescue world, but NADSR makes it all about the dogs.

[Christie M]

Oh wow you guys.

This summer has been quite the roller coaster for me and I have been terrible about keeping up on this forum. I can't believe I missed this.

Thank you so much John for taking the time to crosspost the wonderful things that were posted on the NADSR Facebook page, and for the condolences. Thank you also to Nordis and Stefanie. Yuor words mean a lot, and bring tears to my eyes even now.

Willow was my identity for many years. Between she and Dante, they were why I fell in love with the breed and truly were responsible for most of the decisions I made in my adult life. Loosing Dante was expected. Still hard, but I had time to prepare for it. With Willow, I think it was just so difficult because she improved so dramatically right after her surgery. I had my goof back. For things to go badly so quickly and to loose her just a short week later was pretty devastating. As mush as I love the other dogs that inhabit my home, I'm not sure if I will open myself up like that again. I do miss her terribly.

Anyway - sorry to bring the conversation down. Thank you again for the kind words. She was a very special dog!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of her. I used to put feeder fish in her kiddie pool when she was a puppy. It was one of the only ways to keep her occupied for hours. I guess that was her first venture into the "raw diet."

willowinpool.jpg (35.99 KiB) Viewed 2315 times

[Stacy_R]

Condolences, Christie
What a fantastic photo of her in her pool...I love that it is purple.