In Memory of Our Opal (Opie)

It is with a shattered heart that I share with you the news of Opal’s (Opie) passage over the Rainbow Bridge in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, March 12th. She would have been 16 years old this year. Even in her later years when she began to lose her hearing, became a bit senile and her back legs weakened, she was actually never in pain. She had no ‘old dog’ illnesses or diseases, nor did she ever suffer – although she may have appeared to as she moseyed along slowly in the park. She was simply an old lady who’d slowed down. She loved her food and treats, snoozing, cuddling and swimming, right until her final days. For this, I couldn’t be more grateful. She had a perfect life and passed on swiftly.

The instant I saw Opal’s photo on Petfinder 15 years ago, I was smitten. When I learned that she’d been adopted, I was heartbroken, as I knew that despite the many, many shelters and rescues here in San Francisco, I’d fallen in love with a pup 3 hours away who I’d never even met and I knew I’d never find a pair of eyes that would melt my heart as hers did. Two weeks after I learned she’d been adopted, the woman who’d fostered the litter called to tell me that she’d called off the adoption because the potential adopters were clearly not worthy of her. They kept “forgetting” they were supposed to come pick her up and kept rescheduling their appointments. After the 3rd time, Amy, her foster mom simply told them they were not pet parents worthy of Opal and had no business having an animal in their family – any animal, at that. Their loss, our more-than-gain.

Opal has been the center of my universe since the day she came home with us, and she will always reside right in a big corner of my heart. As a matter of fact, if someone were to take an X-ray of my heart right now, they’d find a black (and grey) girl with warm, loving eyes and big, ol’ flying ears curled up right in a corner of it.

I love you, Opal, as do Daddy, Dixie and Nu. Thank you for giving us the life you did.