Sunny left us yesterday after a short battle with a very aggressive T-Cell Lymphoma. She had just turned 3. We adopted her as a puppy when she was released to a shelter with bowed legs that made her "unwanted" in some's eyes.
A Vet from Indy, where Barkley got his care for years, had moved to the Chicago area as her husband got a position with a big hospital here as a doctor. She took care of Lorelei and Abby Lab at home at the end for us and did the same for Sunny. In a moment that reminded me that even with this pain, God's watching over me - she told me her husband's new job is at one of the biggest hospitals in Chicago, one known world-wide for it's transplant services.
He's on my Transplant team.
In Memory
Sunny D. Lab
May 11, 2023 - July 29, 2026
Words from my husband:
"Back when we hadn't had her very long, I was just getting her past the overstimulation phase so I could walk her all the way to the tracks and back. On one of these trips, I ran across a neighbor from the next block. He and I had spoken before when Lorelei was still happily begging for pets up and down the street. He liked dogs; he used to have great Danes, and he had fitted his little shoebox SUV with a bulldog hood ornament from a Mack truck.
That day he was walking with his wife. They stopped and waited patiently for Sunny to go through the cautious sniffing phase. After a few minutes Sunny decided they were her new best friends and was happily getting pets and doing little jumps when she wanted more attention. The wife was particularly enthralled with Sunny and praised her, saying she loved how, "She looks you right in the eye!" After more pets and wags we went on our way.
You wouldn't notice it from a distance, but if you watched carefully, you could tell the lady was a bit frail. It was several months later when I saw them both again. They were going up the steps to their bungalow and she was leaning heavily on her husband. They apologized for not being able to stop and pet Sunny, but I told them Sunny was just happy to see her friends and she wagged and gave a little woof.
Back in the spring I bumped into the husband on the street. He stopped me to let me know that his wife had passed. He didn't say what the illness was, but it had been a long journey. He said that she had her favorite comfortable chair next to the front window of the house and that she would always smile and remark when she saw Sunny on the street. It was always a moment of happiness for her.
That's how I would like to remember Sunny the most. The dog who always brought a smile to a neighbor's face in her dying days."
