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| EIO DEWITT'S COURT WINDS OF CHANGE Penny APRIL 23, 1999 - APRIL 23, 2006 |
| How do I say good bye to my friend. How do I tell her that I have loved every minute of life that I have shared with her and the last thing I want to do at this moment is say good bye to her. How do I tell her that and then ask the doctor to start the injection that will take her life from me knowing I will never share another minute of life with her.... and yet I do just that, not because I want to, but because I know in my heart it is the one thing I can do for my beloved Penny that will end her suffering, it will take the pain from her body and her eyes and give her peace. Somehow, as I look into her eyes moments before her life ends, I know she understands that and is ready for death and the place it will take her. I share this quiet moment with her as I have shared many moments with her in life and I believe I could have no greater love than the love I share with my best girl at this last moment of her life... Yesterday I played with her and today I tell her good bye... farewell dear Penny, until we meet again.... |
| Penny was not my first Great Dane, she was my second. After several years of encouraging me to take one of her puppies, I finally gave the okay for Leigh to bring one of her little black girl puppies to my house to live. Her name was DeWitt's Court Wind of the Willow - "Piper". This memorial is as much for Piper as it is for Penny, for Penny came into my life as a young puppy to take away the sadness in my heart due to Piper's untimely death at the age of 10 months. I knew before Penny came to live with me how sad it was to lose the all encompassing love of a Great Dane. I knew because Piper had died so suddenly. I knew because I had comforted Leigh when her first Great Dane, Eve, died; I knew because of the loss of Jester the matriarch of the DeWitt family, the sad and sudden death of Namour, and the untimely loss Malice. I knew all to well the times of sorrow over the loss of one of our "family".... and yet, I did not know how difficult it would be to suffer the loss of a friend as great as Penny. Her memory both brightens and saddens my days and nights and the love I gave and received from Penny will be with me for the rest of my life. |
| Penny's life ended because of the side effects of a sulfer medication known as SMZ-TMP which was given to her by a veterinarian for a urinary tract infection. Penny had never had an allergic reaction to any antibiotic, so when this antibiotic was prescribed for her UTI, I proceeded to give her each dose as directed. After 2-1/2 weeks on the antiobiotic Penny began to bleed internally, a side effect of this antibiotic, and before I knew the symptoms and what they meant and how seriously she was affected, it was to late, the red blood cell and blood platelate count was so low Penny was unable to recover even with the medication given to correct the internal bleeding and help her depleted blood... afflicted with immune mediated thrombocytopenia and immune mediated hemolitic anemia, Penny was in extreme pain, paralysis in her hind quarters and blindness all caused by internal bleeding.... quietly and peacefully I took her pain away as she went to sleep for evermore. |
| Below are some pictures of Penny, with me, with Leigh, with her babies; and with her daughters, Sallie and Kate, who shared her life. The memory of one of my greatest friends...... |
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| "Piper" |
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