Holly's last eclipse ..... on the Monaro Plains

[Kunama]

Woke up on eclipse morning to find heavy clouds as far as the eye could see !!!!
No time for fancy eclipse setups now, grabbed my IceInSpace Eclipse glasses and our Shetland Sheepdog "Cedine Sunshine Suzy" or Holly for short, it is her 15th birthday today so I knew Ra the Sun God would shine on her.

Drove 55kms toward the only break in the clouds that I could see then turned back and stopped to let the little girl out for her toilet stop, no sooner had she set foot outside that the Sun God shone on her and the clouds parted just north of Berridale on the Monaro Highway and we were set.

Here is my image of the eclipse taken with my Motorola mobile phone with the IIS glasses held over the lens
and Holly watching the eclipse with her own IIS glasses

Photographically these are just a pixels in the ocean but will always be special images for me.

Sadly Holly passed away 18 hours later in my arms and now sleeps next to her older brother in my garden.
Some days are diamonds ....... some days are stone ............

[AstroJason]

Matt, such a moving post. So sorry for your loss but its so nice of you to have taken her on an adventure to see the eclipse. All the best.

Jason

[Kunama]

Thanks Jason,
Holly was born just after the 1997 solar eclipse hence the 'Sunshine' in her kennel name, it was fitting that she should see another just before joining her brother. She was the gentlest of dogs.

[Ric]

Sorry to hear that Matt, it's always sad to lose a friend.

It was good though that she got to see another eclipse.

[Larryp]

That's a sad but lovely story, Matt! I think we miss our pets as much as fellow humans.

[JB80]

So glad you could spend those moments with her, a sad but beautiful tale.

Thank you for sharing Matt.
:)

[Globular3]

Dear Matt,

I'm glad you could share this time with Holly. I know too well what it's like to lose little friends. Please accept my deepest sympathy. Maybe when you feel better, you may like to have another dog?

All the best and God Bless,

Jeff.

[barx1963]

Thanks for sharing Matt.
Yesterday was a bit like that for me. Had the eclipse in the morning but day was tinged with sadness as I knew that it was to be Snowball's last day.
Snowball was my partners mother cat that we took on after Fiona's mum died about 6 years ago. He had reached the age of 18 years 4 months and was the gentlest little soul.
If any of the other cats had a go at him he would sit there looking most affronted and surprised. Unfortunately, as often happens with white cats he developed skin cancer on his ear and although it had not caused him much discomfort until recently, the time had come to make a decision. It was bothering him now and he was losing condition and stopped cleaning himself.
So yesterday afternoon, Fiona took him to the vet.
I am glad he had one nice sunny day to finish off and spent it sleeping in our garden.

Malcolm

[wavelandscott]

Moving post, thanks for sharing!

[MortonH]

I was a bit sad after missing the eclipse but these stories put it into perspective.

My sympathies to Matt and Malcolm.

[Kunama]

Many thanks everyone, my daughter is actually Holly's owner but Holly has always lived in the family home. The heartbreaking part is calling my daughter.
Malcolm, I am so sorry you and Fiona are going through this as well.
Like Holly, Snowball was a senior citizen, no doubt due to having caring keepers.
Little Holly battled on for 15 years and 1 hour, with a heart murmur,
a tumour on her lung and a melanoma in her eye, brave little soul.

We lost her big brother a year ago under similar circumstances, Jarrah was 16years.
Our German Shepherd, Lara 4 yrs, has spent everyday with the Shelties and like me is a bit lost today.
Matt and Jen

[Larryp]

I'm a cat person myself, Malcolm-I understand how you all feel and you have my sympathies.

[Colin_Fraser]

Very very sad to lose one of the family.

[barx1963]

Here is the last photo of old Snowie. Taken on my stepson's iPhone.
He had a coming together with a car a few years ago and nearly lost an eye, but we think he may have ended up outliving the car!
This is also a typical pose with his tongue out as he would often forget to put it away.

Also there are a couple of him in his favourite pot and sleeping in the sun on the veranda.

RIP old fella!

Malcolm

[MattT]

Dogs are great aren't they...sorry to hear about your beautiful pooch, no doubt at the ripe old age of 15 she had a great life, with 2 eclipses as well. As a dog person I know only too well how it is...
Chin Chin Matt

[Suzy]

Hi Matt,
From one animal lover to another, that was just the most beautiful & touching story and brought such a great lump in my throat. I was happy & sad at the same time as I was reading it.
They are very much a part of the family aren't they, and as Larry said, they can surely be missed just as much as human beings we care about. I had a very special bond with one of my cats (Millie) who passed away of old age at 14 (av. for a moggie) & that was about two years ago. I miss her to this day all the time. But I'm also consoled by the fact that she lived to old age so I got to enjoy her for the maximum. So so so many stories of her I keep dearly close to my heart never to forget. The way she communicated with me was just incredible, so I truly understand how people can share such strong bonds with animals.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Malcolm, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss too, he looks such a beautiful cat. *sigh* their so very special and bring us so much joy- I'm sure they know how much happiness they bring us.