Spike.
He was the best of boys.
Remember what a crazy fall we had? It was so windy and we had a very short season for the leaves. I initially spoke to Tessa about the possibility of doing family portraits right about the time that all the foliage had very suddenly vacated and we essentially missed the opportunity. She’d wanted to get photos of the family in the fall with the pretty colours so she wanted to wait until this coming fall to do it.
Unfortunately, as is often the case when it comes to pet health, when it starts to decline, it started to go quickly. I got a call from Tessa in April saying that their family dog, Spike, had been declining in health in the week leading up to then and they weren’t sure he was going to last much longer, so they wanted to get the photos done ASAP and was I available short notice? Thankfully, I happened to have a weekend where I was free.
The weather was not feeling particularly cooperative, while the snow had mostly disappeared, there was still a chilly breeze and threats of rain through the day, but I pushed that we should meet at the location at the specified time and just cross our fingers that the weather straightened out. And wouldn’t you know it? It did. And thank goodness. Sadly, Spike had to be put down three days after the session. I’d had hope that maybe he would rally a bit as we got some photos of him on the grass where he’d perked up a little bit and seemed happy to walk over to me and sniff my face and try to lick me. While I only got to meet him for a short while, I’m glad that we pushed to do the session in spite of the less-than-ideal weather, because it’s always the worst having to put down your best friend. It’s been almost a year since I lost my Buster, and I’m still so very grateful that I took the time to have photographs taken of us together.
Fly high, sweet boy.