Best Friends Forever

This is my new friend Michelle and her beloved four-legged companion Sadie. They have been together since Michelle was 19. They go everywhere together and have hiked many mountains and sat on many miles of beach on the Oregon coast which happens to be their favorite place. Sadie is 15 and has been diagnosed with the worst possible form of cancer in dogs. It’s in her bones but more specifically her shoulder. It’s literally devouring her bones and muscle tissue, but not her spirit. This dog is like none other. Tenacious doesn’t even begin to describe it. I look at her and sometimes think that she is staying alive because she knows Michelle will be heartbroken without her. It brings me to tears. What a beautiful couple they make huh? Sadly, Sadie is fading fast and within a week Michelle will most likely have to make one of the hardest decisions she has had to make. I was asked to come over and photograph the two of them together in Sadie’s final days so that Michelle will have something to hang on her wall and remember her faithful companion with. I can’t begin to describe how difficult this was for me (thinking about how I couldn’t live without my own two four legged critters), but how privileged I felt to be invited into such a private moment as someone who is only so-so with the camera. I was nervous about getting just the right images for them.
I was even more nervous when I handed over the CD of images to her a few days later. Yesterday she called me and thanked me over and over; saying how much she loved them all….even the oops ones.
This is what I can give back to someone who is about to lose their best friend in the whole world, because I never know the right thing to say even when I have lost those I have loved. There are no words really. I will say this, though that Miss Sadie is a Very Special girl and even I am going to miss her more than I ever expected to. Peace to you bothSandiana