[nagdu] Rest in peace, Echo, April 17, 1995 - May 4, 2012

[Ann Edie]

Oh, Tracy,

I am so sorry to hear of Echo's passing.  I feel for and with you.  It is so
hard to lose a treasured friend like Echo.  Having recently lost my
33-year-old Arabian horse, Magnat, with whom I had the honor of sharing the
latter half of his life, I know how big a hole an old friend can leave in
our lives once they are gone.  There just doesn't seem to be any way of
adequately preparing ourselves for this day, no matter how inevitable it is
or how long, productive, and joyful the lifetime has been.

We can take comfort in knowing that the life of our old friend has been a
good and satisfying one.  And we have our current animal companions to lead
us onward in joy and love.

Wishing you all the best,
Ann

P.S. For some reason, I did not get your original message, but I saw the
subject line of other messages and then read your message appended to Tami's
and other people's replies.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tami Kinney
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 11:33 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Rest in peace, Echo, April 17, 1995 - May 4, 2012

Ah, Tracy. I am sorry to hear it, and I miss the wonderful spirit you have
shared with us. I miss her, too.

Many hugs and shared tears.

Tami

On 05/05/2012 08:05 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
> Rest in peace, Echo, April 17, 1995 - May 4, 2012
>
> We had to put Echo to sleep yesterday.  Her arthritis had gotten very 
> bad, and she seemed to
>
> be uncomfortable more and more, so we called the vet to come.  We 
> found a vet who makes
>
> house calls, and they've been taking care of Echo for the last year or so.
>   It was good that
>
> Echo could lie in one of her favorite places, at home, and die in peace.
> We are very sad.  I thought I was ready, but I wasn't.  I keep 
> listening for her, and
>
> walking around the places she used to lie.
> My husband did a lot to take care of her, and it leaves a big empty 
> space in his life, too.
>
> He was wonderful with her, very patient with all the old dog problems 
> and quirks.
>
> While I was looking through my file to write down her death date, I 
> found an entry I'd made
>
> after the first NFB convention I attended with Echo, in New Orleans.  
> It was just a few
>
> months after we'd met, and I wasn't sure she'd be able to cope with 
> it, but she did great!
>
> Echo's specialty was remembering places we'd been before.  She was 
> great at finding the
>
> right elevator bank.  Once, I'd had breakfast at a table off a big 
> corridor.  Later that
>
> day, I got turned around somehow after a meeting and was looking for 
> the elevator, but not
>
> giving Echo good directions, so she started showing me places we'd 
> been, trying to hit on
>
> the right one.  She showed me the table where I'd had breakfast, and I 
> recognized where we
>
> were and gave her the right directions at last.
> She was a soft dog who needed a bit of cheerleading, but, so long as 
> she knew I had
>
> confidence in her and appreciated her, she could do anything.
> I remember, at that same convention in New Orleans, we took a carriage 
> ride.  We thought my
>
> husband would have to lift Echo up into the carriage, but she climbed 
> the ladder like it was
>
> the most natural thing in the world.
> When we first got back from training, we had some problems, but GDB 
> sent someone out, and,
>
> in about 45 minutes, he figured out the tiny thing I was doing wrong, 
> straightened me out,
>
> and we were good from then on.  We did a lot of travelling together; 
> Echo had a lot of miles
>
> under her paws.  She worked until she was eleven and a half, then she 
> had a long, happy
>
> retirement.
> Like my husband says, we will be lucky if we have as good a life as 
> she did. And to have
>
> people to love and care for us up to the end.  She always did her best 
> for us, and we did
>
> our best for her. Sadly, the last thing we could do for her was give 
> her a peaceful ending.
>
> Now she's in the happy hunting ground, chasing rabbits and squirrels 
> like she used to, and
>
> stealing tomatoes. My parents are there, so they can give her a belly rub.
>   And she can wag
>
> her tail again.  When her back end got bad, she couldn't really wag 
> like she used to.
> Good-bye, old gal. We miss you.
> Tracy
>
>
>
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