Remembering on Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Today we are joining Zee and Zoey to celebrate

RAINBOW REMEMBRANCE DAY.

Yesterday Mommy unburied her 87-year-old external hard drive and spent 87 hours looking at all the old pictures of those who came before me and Brudder Max (DaUdderWeenie).

(Her also went through 'bout 87 boxes of tissue)

Since we are DaWeenies, me told Mommy to post 'bout DaWeenies who came before us.

Da Three Weenie Muskateers

From Left to Right

Ginger (Da Mama) -- 6/28/88 -- 10/5/03

Tiffany (Da Sisfur) -- 1/15/90 -- 7/7/03

Bart (Da Brudder) -- 1/15/90 -- 12/4/03

 Ginger was very special and we'll tell you why in a minute.

On January 15, 1990, Ginger gave us 4 beautiful pups.

Two of them stayed with Mommy and Daddy

Tiffany was a wittle girl...like me. 

Dis was when her was diagnosed with da "C" monster

Tiffany's Brudder Bart

Bart 9 Days Before Leaving for Rainbow Bridge

(Ginger's special story at the end of this post)

Some of my former packmates now at Rainbow Bridge

(Except for Brudder Max (in front) and Sissy Sarah (far left) 

We shared this pic with you a couple weeks ago BUTT I told Mommy it belongs in this post too.

These are all of Mommy's dogs at the Bridge and includes dogs all the way back to 1948 - before Mommy was born.  Jackie (dog sitting up sideways on the top right) was there to greet Mom when Grandma brought her home from the hop-it-all.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Now a little bit of Ginger's story.

Ginger was the pup who changed Mommy and Daddy's lives forever.  Ginger taught them about acceptance and patience, and also that nothing is impossible.

When Ginger was 4 1/2 years old (December 1992) she became a casualty of IDD - that horrible disc disease that develops in some breeds, particularly Doxie's.  Ginger lost her ability to walk on Christmas Eve.  Mommy took her to the vet in the afternoon who decided to keep her hospitalized and medicated over the Christmas holiday.  So it was 3 days before the vet decided to send her to a specialist.  She needed surgery to repair the ruptured disc in her back, but by the time the surgery could be performed, the disc cut through her spinal cord.

Ginger was permanently paralyzed.

Mommy and Daddy's lives were changed forever.  Mommy had to take classes to learn how to care for Ginger when she was released from the hospital.  Ginger could no longer pee by herself so Mom had to learn how to help her.

Daddy was transferred from Michigan to Florida about the time this all happened to Ginger, so Mommy stayed in Michigan for a year by herself until their house was sold.  She had to rearrange her schedule at work so she could come home during the day and empty Ginger's bladder for her.

Once Ginger and Mom finally got to Florida, Mommy and Daddy had to live their lives totally around the needs of Ginger.  If they were going to be away from the house for any length of time, Ginger always went along.

Ginger accepted her disability and lived her life happily as she continued to amaze all who met her.  She learned the art of flipping her paralyzed back legs over each other like a seal and not only get around easily but actually run (even up and down stairs).  She continued to play chase with her pups as if nothing was wrong.

Ginger continued this amazing way of life for over 10 years until she was 15 1/2 years old when old age took over and she began her journey to the Rainbow Bridge.

Together Forever

♥♥♥♥♥

Note from Mom:

Ginger was a very special dog and truly left her pawprints on my heart in a very special way.  After she passed on to the Bridge my life became very empty as so much of my time had been dedicated to caring for her.

To fill some of that empty space, a friend suggested that I work on a web page for her telling about her life and how she adapted to her disability and changed our lives in the process.  I once considered writing a book about her but took my friends advice and, with my friend's help, put together my very first web page.  (Up until then I had never done anything like this before)

Once Ginger's page was complete, I took it one step further.

"ALL THE DOGS IN MY LIFE"

was born featuring stories and pictures of every dog that was ever in my life.

The web site took almost 2 years to complete.  Going through boxes and boxes of pictures looking for just the right pictures and then writing all the stories from my memories of them was so gratifying.  I'm still adding update pages featuring those still with me, although I've become a bit lax since Amber started blogging.

The site has flourished but only because it was inspired by one very special pup who will always be safe in my heart.

Ginger's page can be seen by clicking HERE.  On her page there is also a link to her special page at the official Rainbow Bridge site.  I hope you have time to visit both.

PawHugs

{WOOF}