Sunday 31 July 2016

All about dogs

drawings of honor
What a week;it started with the sad news that Honor the dog from my son Paul and his fiancee Emma was very sick. Honor is the most beautiful and adoring Golden Retriever, she is funny, stubborn and extremely loving to everyone she meets.
This year Honor played the roll as Sandy the dog in the musical Annie in Queenstown and she was the star of the show.
Only two weeks ago Honor started to refuse food and water and she went down hill very fast, the vet put her on intravenous fluid, but after an ultrasound the vet found out Honor had severe kidney disease and her kidneys were failing.
For a whole week she stayed on the IV and  Honor went home to Paul and Emma on Monday.

Honor and Ollie swimming together

Beautiful Honor, we will remember her
But sadly Honor lasted only a few more days and then on Friday this week Honor was put to sleep.
We all feel very sad and especially this loss is very hard for Paul and Emma, because Honor was only four years old and they loved her to bits.
A few years ago I did a drawing of Honor and this was a Christmas present to Paul and Emma, I did another drawing today to send to them as a memory of Honor.

On Wednesday I went with Ollie, my dog to the rest home and hospital, Ollie was the happy therapy dog again and we visited the hospital, dementia ward and the rest home wing.
In the dementia ward Ollie helps to connect people with the world again, even if it is just for a moment.
The nurse took me into one of the residents rooms, Brian was asleep in his bed and dementia patients seem to sleep more and more. Ollie put his nose in his hand and just for a moment Brian reacted slightly, but not enough to wake him up. Ollie lies down next to his bed and just is there in the moment with Brian.
One of the other residents has hardly any facial expressions anymore and doesn't talk, but when he noticed Ollie he smiles, just a little.
Ollie has this gentle influence on people, they come up and like to stroke him.
Honor was the same, she made a difference in peoples life and we will remember this beautiful Goldie.
I am part of Sunday Sketches 



14 comments:

  1. Lieve Marijke,
    Zo moeilijk, het verlies van een hond. Wat zullen jullie, en vooral Paul en Emma, Honor missen. Zo'n mooie, lieve hond.
    Lief dat je die prachtige tekening voor hun hebt gemaakt. Dat zal ze wel steun geven.
    Liefs,
    Els xxx

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    1. Dank je wel Els, het is een groot gemis voor Paul en Emma. Hoe gaat het met jullie beiden, zo goed om van je te horen.

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  2. Beautiful tribute sketch, so sorry about Honor. Your Ollie does good work.

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  3. Your pictures of the beloved dogs and your taking one as a therapy dog. They are so important in ill people's lives. I can relate to what you are doing because of my work with Hospice. Anything we can do to brighten the days of the ill and dying is something very special to them. genie

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    1. Thank you Genie, the work with Ollie is always different, but always good.

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  4. I am so sorry about the loss of Honor. Your illustrations of her are beautiful. I'm so glad you spread such love with Ollie.

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    1. Thank you Lisa, dogs will always be a special part of my life.

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  5. Beautiful drawing of Honor. It is so painful to lose a dog that is loved so much. What a wonderful thing you and Ollie are doing for dementia patients. What a joyful presence Ollie must be.

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  6. Thank you so much Barbara for your lovely comment and Ollie is an amazing dog.

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  7. Really beautiful art, and such a lovely purpose you have! So sorry for your loss

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  8. sorry for the loss of your furry family member :( always hard when they past
    wonderful art tho :)

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