The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

This week has been a tough week on DoodleKisses.  I am at a loss for words and that almost never happens.  Peaceful sleeping has eluded me and I know I am not alone.  I would like to say I can’t eat, but that is not how I deal with stress either.  For me, it started with the DRC “Home 4 the Holidays” slideshow.  I watched the show from beginning to end and was so touched by all the stories, but I couldn’t shake the image of Moses.  His story broke my heart. He had been beaten or kicked by someone and dropped off at a shelter. The DRC stepped in to save him, but his injuries were too severe and he had to be euthanized. 

 

I walk almost every day with my wonderful neighbor.  She is a very upbeat person and faces every test in her life by saying, “everything happens for a reason.”  I wish sometimes I could face life that way too, but then along comes a Moses and I have to ask myself what possible reason could there be for something like that to happen to an innocent, trusting animal?  Is it supposed to teach us that people are capable of incredible acts of cruelty?  Don’t we already know that and see it every day in the news?

 

Next, I came home to find Joanne’s beautiful tribute to Starlit and I am still in shock.  How can this happen to a member of our DK family and to a beautiful dog that many of us remember from the moment she showed up on the front page looking for a home?  We have watched her grow, discussed her, and many people on DK have benefited from Joanne’s training with Starlit, and Roger and Joanne’s experiences along the way.  It is hard to explain to people not on this site how you can get so wrapped up in DK and feel like you are part of a community that “gets it” when it comes to the love you feel for your own dogs and other dogs on this site. Most people think we are nuts, but we know we are just nuts about our dogs.

 

Yes, this has been one of the toughest weeks I can ever remember on DK.  The “Home 4 the Holidays” slideshow showed us that there are tons of dogs, just like ours, only not as lucky, thrown away by people everyday.  They end up in shelters, through no fault of their own; except they had the bad luck to start out with the wrong humans. Luckily, for the dogs in that slideshow, DRC jumped in and most of them got a second chance and hopefully, dealt a better hand this next time around.  Thankfully, we were able to see some of those happy endings that came about through the hard work and dedication of all of the volunteers that work so diligently to save dogs.

 

I really can’t come up with any reason either why Starlit passed away.  It just seems so unfair and wrong.  The only thing I can say is that I am proud to be part of a community that wrapped its collective arms around Joanne, Roger, and Spud, at this heartbreaking time.  I hope it helps them to know that as dog lovers, we know that losing a dog takes a big piece of our heart and anyone who says, “it is only a dog,” never truly experienced the love of a dog.  We really are like a family.  We fight, we makeup, we laugh, we cry, and we are there for each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I will tell you without a doubt DK is real life, it is not just some Internet world. We know each other, our quirks (. Such as how I panic and freak out about everything Jack related, and then one soothi g word from one of you and I regain some sort of sanity). We know this about me just like I know so many things about each of you. I feel like I know so many of you, your precious babies, your children and family.

I will tell you first hand that when I was down and out the amount of tangible support of love cards and a DRC necklace filled my heart with so much joy. I pray Roger and Joanne experience that same overwhelming comfort.


In my humble opinion about everything happening for a reason, well I sort of agree with that. It sort of don't. Sometimes bad things happen and it isn't God testing us. I don't believe he is like that, I think we live in a world where disease happens to dogs, cats other animals and humans, it just happens, not for any reason other then we don't have perfect bodies not yet anyway!!!! I believe it is how we deal with what happens that helps us along

While it is totally beyond tragic that Starlit passed away, nothing will make that okay. Roger and Joanne can know they made her life so good for all the time she was alive. I hope that helps them. As far as Moses that is too much for me to comprehend and the only way I can deal with it is to know he no longer suffers. I believe God has a special place for his fury friends.

Thanks for posting Laurie, Xoxox

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Perfectly said, Laurie!!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Very hard week! I cannot tell you how often I cried over Starlit. It is amazing how touched we are by the gift of these wonderful dogs no matter who the owner is (or who needs a loving owner). Starlit became one of our own through the generous posts Joanne made giving us details of her life and explanations of her training. I am so grateful for DK and the gift each contributor makes to this wonderful community.

[Carol and Banjo]

More tears.     Laurie, you always find the right words.  Thank you.    F. - maybe we can't sit face to face, maybe we can't hug all the wonderful dogs we've come to love here...but this IS real life....and I just love it and am so grateful.

[Leslie and Halas]

Well put.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Not funny but true and I loved it. It made me think again of all the people and dogs I'd like to meet in so called real life. But maybe this life here on DK is real life too. So much like life in that it was pure happenstance that one day about 3 years ago, well 3 years and 47 days--I just looked back, I stumbled across DK while looking up some doodley things on the net. What if I hadn't. Well I would have had a lot more time to get chores done and missed out on the wealth of info, sadness and fun we have here.

[Becka]

Thank you, Laurie, for this beautiful and thoughtful post. You have captured in words what so many of us are feeling, and I really appreciate it.