A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND

A story of love and miracles.

About one year ago I started searching the internet for some dog rescue sites because I just felt the need to save a life. I was very specific. It had to be a whippet.

As I look back now I’m happy to report I could not find a whippet site but obviously I did find a greyhound site and started reading about these wonderful wonderful animals. The more I read about them the more I wanted one and of course I wanted one right away. Then I had to find an adoption agency close to my home. That was a little tricky but I took an early retirement, I had the time! The adoption agency I went through is called Greyhounds In Need of Adoption or G.I.N.A. for short. So after filling out forms, passing the home visit, (phewww), waiting the excruciating length of time my boy was being fostered (3 whole weeks!) – it’s a lifetime when you’re waiting, and then the big day – we went to pick him up.

Enter Nitro……a very special boy.

Being new greyhound owners we weren’t exactly sure just what to expect but we were thrilled nonetheless. I fell totally in love in about two days’ time and we just got to know each other more and more as time went on. I started with short walks up the street and soon they got longer and I got prouder. He was a true gentleman to walk. He liked when people came up and gave him a pat. He would stand like a statue and take it all in. If a dog came along he would bow and then play a little.

One day while drying Nitro after his bath I noticed a funny bump on his side that I hadn’t seen before (just 2½ months after we brought him home). Naturally we went to the vet the very next day and some tests were done. The bump kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger until finally it was decided that it had to be removed. During the surgery and much to the vets’ dismay it was discovered that there was another lump on the inside just as large as the one on the outside (as large as a man’s fist) and it was attached to a rib. This second lump and the rib also had to be removed. All this happened on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend. We then had to take Nitro and his intravenous bag in our van and drive down the Don Valley Parkway to a 24 Hour Emergency Clinic where he would receive proper attention over the weekend. We finally got him transferred from the van into the clinic (a very painful ordeal for Nitro) and settled in and it was time for us to go home. Because Nitro always followed me everywhere I went, he thought he would just get up and come home with us and that really caused a lot of pain and howling all over again. After settling him down again I disappeared quietly so he couldn’t see me (like you do with kids) and everything was okay after that. We visited him twice each day that he was in the hospital and finally got the good news that we could bring him home. He had about a 12" suture line, a work of art indeed, and a very large bald spot where he had been shaved which I was afraid might get sunburned so his foster mom, Maria Leger, made him a couple of light weight coats to wear to protect him from the sun.

Many, many greyt people prayed for Nitro and his humans and because of that a miracle happened. Nitro made a remarkable recovery. The ultrasound and chest x-ray following that major surgery were clear. We were on cloud nine. He really was our miracle boy. We had a wonderful summer. Every Wednesday night when he was up to walking again we would walk over to the legion where the pipe band was practicing. He just seemed to love the bagpipes, as do I. The pipers would come over and speak to Nitro. My daughters did Highland Dancing when they were younger so that brought back some memories.

More time had gone on and soon Nitro was going to a picnic. How exciting. There would games – bobbing for hotdogs, the longest tail contest, the baldest butt contest and lots of food for the humans too.

And then came Nitro’s 3^rd birthday. It was celebrated quietly with mommy and daddy with a special breakfast and presents and then a run in the fenced in park. Woof woof!!

Nitro went on to become a St. John Therapy Dog and he loved it and of course the residents loved him. He would put his head in their laps and they would pat him as long as they wanted. He would look up at them with his almond shaped and coloured eyes and then move on to the next person and get a pat there. He really was a special boy.

Due to the nature of the disease, we realized a follow-up ultrasound and chest x-ray was necessary so I quite confidently went ahead and booked that for the end of September and we took him in one beautiful, crisp morning. By that evening our little world, as we knew it, had begun to crumble. Oh, the ultrasound was clear but the chest x-ray showed the cancer had spread throughout his lungs and Nitro would not see Christmas. I was sure they were reading someone else’s’ x-ray. Nitro seemed so healthy. I was in total denial. But no, they said, he would soon start to cough and throw up lose his appetite.

He fought a good fight. He was so proud. He lost his battle to this hideous disease on October 30, 2003.

Somewhere in the midst of my world falling apart Maria Leger had mentioned that Nitro’s sister Mariah would be retiring soon, if not already. We wondered where she was and what she was like since her brother (Nitro) was so amazing. Somewhere in my subconscious mind something was going on because the day I let Maria know about Nitro passing away I almost begged her to find Mariah. I’m sure she put her detective’s cap on right away and things started to happen. She was e-mailing different locations where Mariah might have been and I was trying different people but we weren’t getting any concrete answers and we were so afraid we were running out of time.

One night before going to bed I asked Nitro to help me find his sister Mariah. The very next day I got an e-mail from Lisa Lussier saying she had FOUND MARIAH!!!!! Somebody pinch me. I couldn’t believe it. There was just one little glitch! She had already been spoken for. Oh no!!! I was told to call Ann Whitney of Rainbows End Greyhound Rescue. What a lifesaver Ann turned out to be (in more ways than one). She had spoken to the other adopters and told them our story and they kindly gave up Mariah so we could have her and they took another lucky greyhound.

The night that Nitro passed on my daughter, Michelle, dreamt that one of my mother’s dogs, who has long since passed, and whose name just happened to be Matt, showed Nitro the way to go so that he would be safe. How fitting is it then that Nitro’s brother Matt should be waiting for us to come home with Mariah even though he too had been adopted out but returned because the folks did not have time for him.

Do you remember that old song about the wind they called Mariah? The day we headed out to pick up Matt and Mariah it was very very windy. It just seemed like yet another piece of the puzzle falling into place. Nitro must have had a paw in all of this.

Do you believe in miracles? I know now in my heart that this is the way it was meant to be, the way all these events just fell into place one by one. This was God’s plan right from the beginning. A good friend told me that when Nitro first passed away. At the time I couldn’t really see the point but now when I look at Matt and Mariah I see two very good reasons.

Nitro, you have left behind a greyt legacy. I know that now you are an angel keeping an eye your brother and sister for me because they are very well behaved and are very special to us. I hope I have made you proud of me because I was always super proud of you. You were here for such a short time but seemed to accomplish so much in the time you had. You were always a proud boy and always knew exactly what you wanted. You will be in our hearts forever. I’ll see you at the Bridge and I’ll have a greyt big hug ready and waiting for you.

Even though Nitro has gone, it is heartwarming to know that we have part of him still in our home in his brother and sister Matt and Mariah.

Jo-Anne Sauve
November 2004