Founder and the end

If you been reading here over the years then you will know this was my girl Founder.  I named her Founder after I 'found her' close to death five years ago.  Some fool had been using her for breeding purposes and by the scars around her neck it seemed pretty obvious that she had been used to fight too.

Close to death the fool discarded her.

In the beginning she was very timid and scared of men.  But with love and support she grew into the most confident friend anyone could wish for.

She came into our lives just a month or so before my dad died.  It was about the same time of year as it is now.

One afternoon my dad was sitting outside in the early morning sun and Founder was laying on the grass next to him.  My dad looked at me and said: "She is the best dog we have ever had."

Founder was a patient dog with a deep soul marked by her earlier experiences and it showed.  We think she must have been about three or four years old when she came into our lives.

After my dad passed she guarded our house as if she had been raised inside its walls.  On my many trips away from number 11 I rested somewhat easier knowing she would not let anyone in past the front gate.

One time in Kenya I was so homesick that I looked up our house on Google maps and zoomed in to find Founder standing at the front gate. 

A few hours ago I took her to our vet knowing she would not come back.  In the last week or so she had been very sick and I kept hoping against fate that she would improve.  Late this afternoon I knew the end was near.

The vet checked her over and diagnosed her with advanced lymphatic cancer.  I had to make the difficult decision of letting her go even while her eyes looked right through my being.

My heart is broken tonight and it will be for a very long time.

I am going to miss her and her companionship.  I will not be alone.  The two terriers she helped raise in the last two years and the feral cat she adopted in the last year will too.

There just is no easy way to deal with death be it a family member of the humankind or one like Founder.

In the end it is just the end.

Onward!