Yesterday we said goodbye to Winnie. She had cancer. We knew this day was coming, and it didn’t come as soon as we expected, but the finality of losing her is still very difficult to accept.
Losing any dog is a heartache, but losing a super-loving Golden Retriever like Winnie is heartbreaking in a big way. She came to us as a wild little fuzzball and left us ten years later as our best friend. We knew from the start, from the day we brought that cute puppy home, that her last day would come in our lifetime. It just hurts like hell when that last day is today.
Winnie was famous — the most popular dog in our neighborhood. Nobody knew my name, but everybody knew Winnie: the kids at the school bus stop, the parents at the playground, the lifeguards at the pool, the walkers of other dogs at our neighborhood pond. I was just a delivery system: the old man on the other end of Winnie’s leash. She loved everyone and expected a warm greeting from all she met. She never understood why any human or animal was not her friend, and most of them were. How could anyone ignore that sweet face?
Farewell, dear Winnie. You were perfect.
Sage Advice, LLC 
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