Stella

Hi all. I’m very sad and sorry to tell you that that our Labrador Stella crossed over the rainbow this past Monday, July 20. The degenerative spinal disease she had for the past year+ had progressed over last weekend and we had to put her down.

She had recently turned 14 a few weeks ago and we wished she could have been with us forever.  It is crushing to be without her now … as she was our North Star, our Matriarch, the boss and leader of the house. It is empty and quiet without her … though our second dog Willow is trying to help us mend our broken hearts. It’ll be a long while.

It was a bit excruciating as I had to officiate at the junior provincial tennis tournament this past week a couple hours away, while my husband took Stella to the vet. I was able to say goodbye to her before I left, but it was difficult to be at the event to say the least. I somehow made it through and now I’m back home missing her like crazy.

Stella was involved in so many activities with us including: hiking up mountains, cross-country skiing, swimming, and daily errands, walks, and vacation trips. In her heyday, she was a very athletic dog and one of the fastest ball retrievers at the parks in town. She was a snow dog too and could find any ball under the snow no matter where. We have thousands of photos of her but here in this post are just a few. 

I know I wrote about her many times on the blog over the years and many of you liked seeing pictures of her. When we got her as a puppy in September 2012, I wrote about her here and then a month later I updated news of her here. Now here we are 14 years later. 

I have shed a lot of tears but know that she had a great life and we gave her as much as we could. She’ll always be in our hearts and with us at home. She was very much loved and will be forever missed. Thank you for your support. 

Ps. I wasn’t able to read a wink this past week, but I am enjoying Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Land on audiobook … while I water the plants and walk.