In Loving Memory of Rivers 08-50
We met her at a park in Lincoln and instantly fell in love. She had beautiful blonde hair and was definitely turning heads in the crowd. When we finally reached the family that she was with, we introduced ourselves and asked for a little of her time, and she walked away with us for a little one on one. It was love at first sight for us and we could only hope it was for her also! We spent about an hour or so with her that day and that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. The beginning of our new family.
We could not take her home that day, so we had to wait and make sure that her foster parents liked us and when we got that call, we jumped in the truck and drove the 2 ½ hours to her foster home to bring her home. Her name was Chloe, but we decided to name her Rivers which was a name we decided on from the lovely couple that did our home visit, the Tinders. Their dog’s name was Rivers and was a delight to have in our home. Our Rivers lived up to this name. She was a perfect sweetheart from day one. She loved her walks and would let me know if I missed one. One of her favorite things to do was to make snow angels! No matter how deep the snow, she was out rolling in the snow and making her angels. Even when there was no snow she would try to do this in the grass and it would be worn down in patches where she had made them.
She even made dog lovers out of family members of ours who didn’t care for dogs before they met her. They said she was just different from most dogs and we totally agree! She had a very sweet and soft demeanor about her and knew when to leave people alone and when to lean in for more. In March of 2009, we started noticing some problems with her and thought they were just a simple UTI. We had her treated for a few months and things were not responding, so x-rays and ultrasounds were done. To our devastation, they found a cancerous tumor. We talked to Dr Dimari and he decided to remove the tumor. The surgery went great except our goofy little girl decided to be one of those rare ones and be allergic to the normal material they use for sutures, so, they had to go back in and take out all of the previous ones and use a special material and she healed just GREAT!
The next year was wonderful and we had no problems. We went to many GRRIN events, the dog park was a regular stop on our routine and she went with me just about everywhere I could take her! My family got used to seeing Rivers with me all the time, we were pretty much a team.
In May of this year, almost a year to the date of the previous diagnosis, Rivers stopped eating and having regular bowel movements. I took her to see Dr Dimari and after ruling out minor things, he did x-rays and ultrasounds and found that the cancer was back but in a different place and not encapsulated like it was before. There was no way to tell how much time we would have but we made it the best we could for her. All the extra treats she never had before she now had. She decided one day to reach up in the front seat of the car and treat herself to my ice cream cone! She even made an appearance at “Bandana Days” just 2 days before we lost her and she was happy and playing with the other dogs.
On Monday June 7th, she seemed fine, but that evening she started having irregular breathing. We spoke to Dr Dimari a few times that night and by the time we knew it was time, we agreed to meet at Harvey Oaks and we brought our baby girl in and Dr Dimari said she was very close. She took just a few final breaths and crossed over “the Rainbow Bridge.” About 2 weeks before Rivers passed away, she started growing these little “tufts” of hair on her shoulder blades and when the wind caught them, they looked like angel wings. My husband was the first to notice them and pointed them out to me and said, “ Look, I think she is growing her wings!” I have no doubt in my mind that Rivers will be there waiting for us when we pass away! We love you baby girl!
