Loss of Our Rizee, Grief, and Its Aftermath
I couldn’t imagine I’d ever write this, but just a few hours, and in fact, a few devastating minutes, changed our lives. Sara and I lost Rizee last night. She was the kindest, sweetest dog, with eyes that emanated love; she seemed to have telepathy with Sara, and Sara was the best mom ever. Rizee always brought happiness to everyone around her. Despite her small size, she had the biggest heart imaginable, and that tiny big heart suddenly stopped, leaving a huge hole in our hearts.
Grief is hard; I don’t know anything harder than loss. The fact that we no longer feel her weight under our blanket when we go to sleep, and we don’t see her face when we wake up, is heartbreaking. She brought joy to our lives for a decade.
We first met her in Costa Rica during the PositiveMed days, when we moved there to expand our company. When we came to Miami, she became the joy of the company (I’ll post a video of those days in the comments), and until yesterday, she was lying on the sofa listening to my meetings every day.
She was a well-traveled dog, part of many of our adventures. She traveled around Europe for 3 months, visited most of South America, and was a significant part of our lives. Most importantly, she had a soul that made everyone who saw her fall in love with her.
When we found her in Escazu, Costa Rica, she was a tiny, skinny dog. We thought she was blind because she couldn’t open her eyes. She had large nipples, indicating she was probably pregnant and had lost her puppies. There was a huge lump of 2.5 inches on her neck, a giant spleen, and she was unable to move. We took her to the vet, who said we needed to do a test; if it was positive, we’d have to put her down. We left her there with tear-filled eyes, and she jumped off the vet’s metal table, leaped onto a chair, and banged on the glass as if to say, “Take me with you.” We visited her the next day, and she had stolen the hearts of everyone at the vet. The vet said she would have died if we hadn’t brought her in that night. She stayed there for 40 days, and we became her lucky mom and dad.
Her loss feels like a profound emptiness, and we are trying to stay strong to get through this. We know we gave her the best life possible, being the best companions for her and giving her an amazing life, and that’s what we are grateful for. We cherish all the days we spent with her. We are grateful that we were able to experience such energy with a being; she changed us for the better, and every day with her was a blessing. If you have a pet, hug them as hard as you can; that’s the best thing in life.
We buried Rizee in our backyard; she is now a forever part of our lives, and I am forever thankful to Rizee for all the love she gave to Sara and me, with her beautiful heart ♥️
We miss you Rizee, we miss you. We miss you so much.
With Love,
Mommy and Daddy