Her Song is Over but her Symphony Plays On

From Foley’s Mom:  Foley went to Rainbow Bridge shortly before 3:00 EST today.   She was in her oxygen cave when we arrived.  They let us visit with her.  She was very excited to see us, but she also started to breathe hard.  We spent five minutes with her.  Then they told us to go into an exam room.  They had to put an IV line into her, but when they had tried earlier she had gone into respiratory failure, so they weren’t sure if they could.  They said if she started to pass during the procedure they would get us.  They were able to get the IV line into her and then brought us back out.  They took her out of the cave.  I held her, Ted put a hand on her and held the oxygen line in her mouth.  They put the needle into the IV line and in two breaths she was gone.  We took her into another room to say goodbye.  We took a lock of her hair with us.  She will be cremated and then buried in our garden with a memorial stone.  We will have her ashes, and paw print Tuesday.  We can’t thank you all enough.  We are going to try to attempt to answer all your comments on Tanner Brigade, Doggyspace, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger but it is going to take time.  Grief is like the shore, sometimes it is calm, and sometimes it crashes to shore.  Right now I am in between waves.  

Foley was the perfect dog for us.  Bossy, demanding, and loud she may not have been perfect for everyone but she was for us.  She loved us so, so much.  The doctors believe her body may have been filled with cancer and she struggled to hide it from us because she wanted to be with us.  She would have walked through fire for us.  She has stayed by my side through so many health scares, operations, cancer.  She saved me.  She saved both of us.  On one hand I wish I could have saved her, on the other hand I believe I did, by taking her pain away.  

Foley’s voice will be heard again.  She is in my head, she is in my heart, my soul is entwined with hers.  I am going to take one of her hairs, put it in a locket and wear it forever.  And when I go, I may ask that the box of her ashes be dug up from the garden and be buried with me so we will be together forever.  As long as I am alive, and Ted is alive, her song will never end.

And now a symphony for Foley.

Keep Me in Your Heart For Awhile By Warren Zevon

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath

Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less

Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun

Keep me in your heart for awhile

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sometimes when you're doing simple things

around the house

Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on

your blouse

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams

Touch me as I fall into view

When the winter comes keep the fires lit

And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream

Keep me in your heart for awhile

These wheels keep turning but they're running out

of steam

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Keep me in your heart for awhile

Company by Rickie Lee Jones

   

I'll remember you too clearly

But I'll survive another day

Conversations to share

When there's no one there

I'll imagine what you'd say

I'll see you in another life now, baby

I'll free you in my dreams

But when I reach across the galaxy

I will miss your company

Company

I'll be looking for company

Look and listen

Through the years

Someday you may hear me

Still crying for company

So now you're going off to live another life

You say we'll dream each other now and then

But we'll never be the same

And I know I'll never have this chance again

No, not like you

So, I'll see you in another life now baby,

I'll free you in my dreams

But when I reach across the galaxy

I will miss your company

Company

I'll be looking for company

Look and listen

Through the years

Someday you may hear me

Still crying for company   

Terry’s Song by Bruce Springsteen

Well they built the Titanic to be one of a kind, but many ships have ruled the seas

They built the Eiffel Tower to stand alone, but they could build another if they please

Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Egypt, are unique I suppose

But when they built you, Foley, they broke the mold

Now the world is filled with many wonders under the passing sun

And sometimes something comes along and you know it's for sure the only one

The Mona Lisa, the David, the Sistine Chapel, Jesus, Mary, and Joe

And when they built you, Foley, they broke the mold

When they built you, Foley, they turned dust into gold

When they built you, Foley, they broke the mold

They say you can't take it with you, but I think that they're wrong

'Cause all I know is I woke up this morning, and something big was gone

Gone into that dark ether where you're still young and soft and bold

Just like when they built you, Foley, they broke the mold

Now your death is upon us and we'll return your ashes to the earth

And I know you'll take comfort in knowing you've been roundly blessed and toasted

But love is a power greater than death, just like the songs and stories told

And when she built you,Foley, she broke the mold

That attitude's a power stronger than death, alive and burning her stone cold

When they built you, Foley they broke the mold