*** MIRABELLE ROSEBLOSSOM MERRIWEATHER *** (2014-2021)
Hello dear friends,
It is with the heaviest heart that Mum and I post this message to let you all know that we lost Mirabelle very early in the morning on Wednesday the 15th.
It feels very selfish to admit -we are so sorry- but part of the reason we are making this public is to avoid meeting some of you in the future and having you ask … “Where is Mirabelle?”
She’s in our hearts.
And will be always and forevertimes. 💜
This is a face that is about to start some trouble :)
But, we also know that all of you loved her and for that we will forever be grateful. And you deserve to know that she died as she lived - fighting and not accepting what other people told her to do. Even in her final moments, she was still calling the shots. She was and forever will be The Boss with the Sauce.
As most of you know, Mirabelle had a lot of health issues. She had been through a great deal in her 7 amayzazing years, often fighting through some kind of illness or traumatic surgery to correct a problem with her wonky little body.
She always fought very hard, and pushed through for one reason only : so that she could come back home to her brother and her Mum and Pop. Above all else, she wanted us all to be together. And worked very hard to make that happen every single day.
After seven years of fighting,
she decided it was time to go. And she left on her terms.
Although this latest episode had her once again going into a veterinary clinic to undergo some very serious procedure, things did not play out like we had hoped it would - the way it always did in the past.
And we have to say that although most clinics would not allow us inside to be with her because of COVID rules, we got to be with her and were even able to bring her home and let her spend her last minutes in her favourite bed, with her big brother Archie and her Mum and Pop. For that, we are very grateful to the amazing staff of the Neighbourhood Veterinary Clinic on Wonderland Road South. They fought for her and did everything they could for more than six hours, working way past their closing time.
Mirabelle looking directly into your heart. 💜💜💜
Anyway, this is what happened …
Mirabelle was not herself on Monday. But - and this is very important and VERY Mirabelle - she still played. She and Mum played laser pointer games that afternoon. She always told us how she would win gold at the Olympics in Laser Pointer Games. Later, she and Pop played at thrashing her favourite plush toy, Edgar Rice Burro (Donkey) that night. Knowing what we know now, we’re not even sure how that was possible. Except that - of course, she did. She’s Mirabelle. She’s always been our miracle.
She woke Mum up that night and was very uncomfortable, but went back to sleep, so we did not yet assume the worst. She had been suffering from terrible digestive upset and gas lately and it seemed she had passed enough to get comfortable again. Morning came and she was still in distress, but she’s tough stuff and was keeping it together.
We called our new local vet and, because of COVID, the earliest we could get her in was 6 hours later at 230. The local 24-hour emergency clinic is no longer open during regular business hours, so everyone now has to go to their regular vet to deal with emergencies during the day. It was a long day. She was moving about - incredibly - but very carefully, so we had no idea how dire things were.
We took her in and - as usual - she was a wonderful little patient, presenting her ear for a temperature check and doling out kisses to everyone she met. But, almost immediately the staff identified a life-threatening situation with her stomach. This was a shock. She had been having breathing problems for years and it was now looking like at least some of the breathing issues were not at all related to the airways in her nose and throat. It was her stomach pushing against her lungs because it was many times the size it should be. The vets said she would not survive if we waited for the emergency clinic to open. That she would not survive the ride to the veterinary college an hour away, where she had her spinal surgery. They needed to intervene immediately.
By 4 pm, she was in surgery. And they worked on relieving and cleaning out her stomach for hours. We won’t share the details here. It’s very upsetting. They also discovered she had aspirational pneumonia. Her lungs were compromised, but could possibly recover. They just absolutely needed to deal with her stomach first - and they did. Mirabelle fought like a champ during the surgery and the team was raving about how well she was doing - until they tried to bring her back out. Trying to wake her up did not go well. She was breathing incredibly hard and every time they tried to remove her oxygen tube, she would crash. And they couldn’t wake her up.
After negotiating with the staff - who really were wonderful - we were allowed to go back and to be with her. During her previous surgery at the end of this past June, she experienced this same problem. The procedure itself was fine and putting her under went very smoothly, but bringing her out was a nightmare. The only thing that worked was having Mum go into the room with her and talk her back to consciousness.
Again, Mirabelle would fight like Hell so she could come home.
When we went back to be with her, her breathing got a little better. When we caressed her and spoke to her and made her favourite sounds, she actually sat upright. The staff described that moment as miraculous. They couldn’t even bring her back to consciousness. Suddenly she could breathe on her own and the oxygen tube was removed. Her breathing was still extremely stressed and ragged, but she was doing it on her own. It was amazing. Then we took her outside. Pop carried her out into the fresh air and light rain and we continued to caress her and whisper into her ears and she improved again. The staff was completely baffled.
The staff strongly recommended she go to the emergency clinic for overnight monitoring because her breathing was so bad and because if her oxygen levels crashed again, she would only have minutes. But we knew that if we took her there, she would not come out. They would put her back on oxygen and the cycle would start all over again. We knew it. And, if this was it, if this was the day she was going to leave us, that we needed to be with her.
So, we asked to take her home. And although the staff was very uncomfortable, they could see she was doing much better with us and beautifully accepted our request.
In the car, her breathing improved again. And when we brought her into our apartment, we made her as comfortable as possible. She laid out on her biggest, most puffy bed, in cool, moving air and we all gathered around. Archie came over and smelled her all over and … we think he knew what was happening.
After seeing her get a little better every step towards coming home, we were hopeful, but after being at home for a while, she started to get worse again. And while Mum and I were frantically trying to decide what to do next, Mirabelle made the choice for us. She has always been the strongest member of The Brindlebunch. She was home. She got what she wanted. We were all together. And that’s when she decided it was time to go. We did absolutely everything we could. And she did absolutely everything she could too.
She had fought enough.
After she slipped away, we spent time with her at home with Auntie India and Mumum in the room with us, and then took her to the emergency clinic and spent more time with her there. And then we came home. And leaving her was the hardest thing we’ve ever done.
Mirabelle was our “special needs” girl, our little lemon, and we were tending to her physical needs and her personality demands all day every day - and we loved it. And now that she is gone, we are traumatized. We don’t know what to do with ourselves. We regularly have panic attacks. Where is she? What does she need? Is she ok?
Needless to say, we’re gutted. Destroyed. In shambles. Constantly breaking down. At home, noticing every little detail that tells us she’s not here. In public. Everywhere we go and everywhere we look. We gather ourselves together and then our grief sneaks up on us and we crumble again. And again. And again. That’s why it has taken us several days to share the news.
She’s ok. And, although we’re not ok yet, we’ll be ok too. We cling to the idea that she is out of pain and is finally comfortable.
We want you to know that Archie is doing well. We’re really grateful that he was with her and that she just didn’t go away one day and never come back. He was with her at the end. He understands what happened and he is being so strong for us. He knows how to live in the moment and we’re taking our lead from him. And we’ve been going on long hikes together to all of Mirabelle’s favourite destinations just to gently process what has happened. We think he’s known for a while. Archie was actually suffering from tummy upset for weeks and weeks - something that is VERY out of character for him - and since Mirabelle left us, he’s straightening back out again. He may have been very worried about her. He may have even known what was coming.
I could go on and on and on about Mirabelle and all of the amazing memories we have of her, but you know her and why we love her and many of you have shared these memories with us, so what we’d like to do now is share with you the life lessons that Mirabelle taught us. These are the lessons we have promised to embrace and to employ in her honour:
HOW TO LIVE LIKE MIRABELLE
LIFE SHOULD BE FUN
Mirabelle was a LOT. We’ve never used the term “extra” before, but Mirabelle was the epitome of EXTRA. For Mirabelle, EVERYTHING WAS DIALLED UP TO “11”. She was a huge personality that commanded every room or space that she was in and because of her many physical challenges, she also needed a lot of help. Literally every hour of every day and - for Mum - at least once a night. And we would have happily done that forever, but now that’s gone. Mirabelle wants our life to be easy now. And fun. And she taught us that even if you don’t feel great, to fight for the opportunity to have fun. To experience joy. Some days that can be hard to achieve - so fight for it. Don’t let one day go by without it. It won’t just come to you. You have to go out and get it. You have to make it happen. On her last full day, she played as hard as she has ever played. It’s astounding to think about. When we are tired or sore, we complain. We mope. Mirabelle never did that. And we need to remember that life is for living. Life should be fun. Life is JOY.
BE PRESENT
This is such a good lesson. We all know that canines are excellent at living in the moment. Again, despite what her body was feeling, Mirabelle always participated in life. She wasn’t bogged down by old baggage and never worried about the future. It was always about this second. Be present. Be in the now. Don’t look back or look ahead. Just remain connected with what is all around you. Live your life - RIGHT NOW.
KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU
And don’t accept things that are not good for you. Mirabelle was the best at this. She knew EXACTLY what she wanted and she also knew EXACTLY what she didn’t want. She was so good at making decisions and she always asked us for what she needed. Whenever we would go on walks, it was Mirabelle who decided which way we would go. If we came to a fork in the road or an intersection on a path and tried to go a direction Mirabelle did not want to go, she would just dig in her heels. She would suddenly weigh 1,000 lbs. Mirabelle knew what Mirabelle wanted and she demanded it.
Do not accept anything short of what you want. Know what’s good for you and accept only that. And never - ever - feel bad about saying “no” to the things that are not good for you.
Mirabelle as a juniorperson
DO YOUR JOB WELL
Mirabelle was also awesome at jobs. If you gave her a job, she would give it 200%. She was incredibly focused. When we went for walks, she took it very seriously. When she was training, she took it very seriously. Playing with the laser pointer was the most important thing in the world for her. It was like she was training for the Olympics. Nothing was half-assed with Mirabelle. If she wanted to do something, she would do it better than anyone else. And if she didn’t - good luck at getting her to do it at all. Basically, if you’re going to do something, do it the best you possibly can, or don’t do it at all. But never wander through life half-assing it.
KEEP THE PACK TOGETHER
This was easily her most important lesson. And it’s not easy to apply to humans because we live complicated lives. But for Mirabelle this was everything. It’s all she ever wanted. When we went for hikes in the woods, it was Mirabelle that made sure we all stayed together. If Archie fell back to smell something, she would stop. If any one of us wasn’t in her sights, she would let us know and would wait until we all came back together. Again, it may not seem possible for some, but we love how much she loved being a family. And we’ll never forget that.
BE YOURSELF AND BE PROUD OF IT
Mirabelle was not capable of being anyone but her purest self. And she loved being Mirabelle. She got dealt a bad hand and was born into a wonky body with lots of problems, but it almost never slowed her down. She owned it. She was loud and pushy and moved through the world like a bulldozer with a heart of gold - and she loved it. Some people like to say “this is me - take it or leave it”. But Mirabelle went one step further. Mirabelle’s attitude was …
THIS IS ME - AND YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE IT!
APPRECIATE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Our vibrant little girl was so full of love, it was overwhelming. She was intense about everything, but she was the most intense with her love. She loved so hard that at times it hurt. She DEMANDED to be able to love us. She would tell us by slapping our faces and barking at us from inches away. She would greet her friends and family with a huge smile and LOVED it when people came to visit. She could make you feel like the most important person in the world. And would always let the people she loved know how much she appreciated us and was grateful for us being in her life.
So much attitude in such a small body!
So… Mirabelly has left us. She has crossed over the bridge and we have no doubt that she is running the show in Rainbow Valley now. The Boss with the Sauce is being large and in charge. She’ll love it there, getting to see so many of her friends and having the chance to boss them all around at once. :) We meet her every night in the Dreamingplace and hope you’ll join us there too. She would love to see you. Just be prepared to have your faceparts bopped real good.
We miss her so much. It’s awful. But we are better for her being in our lives. And we will never forget her.
Her incredibly articulate and expressive snorts
Her quiet, but commanding barks
Her ruthless, but loving facebops
The way she walked with her eggbeater legs
The way she climbed stairs like a panther
How hard she would play
The way she would “submarine” around the outside of HER pool
(the Bloo Puddlepond)
The way she shepherded us on walks
The way she greeted us with joy every morning
The way she demanded to sleep on us every night
The way she could be so small and so huge at the same time
The way she filled our hearts with LIFE and LOVE and JOY
💜
Our Mirabelle memory corner
Seven years of Mirabelle Roseblossom Merriweather was not nearly enough. But we’re so very grateful for every second we had with her. From the moment she arrived she was the centre of the universe and she believed that was how the world worked. It revolved around her. And we agree. She had the best life.
And again, we are so very grateful for all of the love and support that this incredible community gave to her over the years. You were her friends and she LOVED you the most, the biggest, the bestest, the most intense-ist, and as only Mirabelle could - with every ounce of her saucy being.
Thank you, everyone.
