Gracie

Gracie was a member of our family and our companion from the time she was 5 weeks old until she died suddenly of a heart attack at 18 months.

She was our Gracie-Basie, our very special girl, our girly-girl. Hers was the purest, most unselfish love we knew. She made our lives special and every day beautiful. This is what we remember about Gracie: how her snout felt and how she moaned with pleasure when we kissed it; how she stretched out on our bed and snored loudly; how her body felt, soft and warm beside us in bed; how she ran to the door and her body twisted with delight whenever one of us came home; how she slept on her back, with her legs spread wide apart in the greatest trust; how earthy was the smell of the bottom of her paws. We like how she nudged our hand with her snout whenever we “forgot” to give her a treat, or to get up and go for a walk

She loved the water, every stream, pond, and marsh. She was our "bog dog". And we re-discovered nature through her. Her pleasure in the trails, the fields, the wild flowers, became our pleasure. High Park, the Brickworks, Cherry Beach, and the ravines of Toronto are different to us now, because of how we knew them with her.

She left behind an empty spot in our hearts. Her short but spirited life gave something to all of us for which we are grateful. We feel in some way that we are better for having known her.