Sadness of Loss :-(

Tom, Mimi, Donna bike "Old Man of Mt"

Kitty a Mentor & Friend ;o)

Sutter & I say Good-bye to Lyric :-(

For me,  in the normal grief phase of loss, blogging helps me grasp it, work thru it and move on, while still holding the memory of the loved one deep in my heart ... that was never so apparent as early on, with the crushing loss of our sweet Golden girl Lyric and the flood of emotions :-(

In August, the dog Agility community, lost a special friend, teacher and fellow dog lover ... Kitty became a dear friend & teacher to the girls & me, and then her fight with Cancer took her way too soon ... it helped that she requested us to be part of her dying process as we all were in her living process :-(

As 2012 begins and I tear on the 5th birthday of my sweet Golden girl Lyric, I learn that another dear friend "Mimi" has lost her battle with Cancer in the wee hours of this morning ... so it's a day filled with double the sadness ... Mimi, Tom and I became great friends back in the 1960's as we raised/showed Dairy Goats thru-out the northeast fair circuit together ... I sooo remember in the beginning Mimi's long hair, Tom's full beard and their "hippy" VW bus ...  in later years we hiked, biked, canoed, XC skiied, snowmobiled and swapped long distance visits ... you'll be sadly missed my friend, but fondly remembered :o)

TREASURE THOSE WHO are SPECIAL ... for LIFE IS Sooo SHORT ... think the girls and I will go on a hike together today ;o)