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By Brenda Bradley – Newbury, MA Owner of Excentrique Home Décor – Newburyport, MA

From the moment guests step into our home, the love for our golden retrievers is undeniable. It is visible on our “dog wall,” a photo gallery of the three goldens that have served as essential members of our family. Though our goldens’ presence in our lives is often short-lived, the deep love and loyalty we experience lasts long after their time on earth. Despite our loss, our family has gained so much from having golden retrievers for the past 18 years. Each has had their individual personality, as all children do.

Oliver

We used to call our first female golden, Lulu, the “huntress.” She loved to be outside and spent her days on the front porch looking over the field eagerly anticipating a deer or rabbit to chase. When Lulu was 2 years old, we decided she needed a companion. Along came Oliver, and the two of them enjoyed wrestling in the yard together. Oliver was a mellow guy. He was always happy to snuggle, and he often laid right in the middle of the kitchen - much like a rug.

Lulu suddenly passed away at the age of 7 from complications from pneumonia, and the whole family was devastated, including Oliver. A few months later, we made the decision to get another female golden to bring some youthful energy back into Ollie’s life. We got Isabel, who we later nicknamed Izzy, to match her spunky temperament. When she was a puppy, she had so much energy that we had to play fetch with her constantly to tire her out. As a result, she became ball obsessed. When we Lulu as a Puppy

went to the kids’ lacrosse games, she could smell a ball deep in tall grass. She loved to ride on the John Deere gator with Oliver all around our farm, and they would both sit and watch our son work in the fields from the shaded porch of the harvest house. To cool off on hot summer days, Izzy would play in a small plastic pool. In the winter, when Izzy would be chasing her ball in the snow, I would pull Oliver on the kid’s old L.L. Bean sled so he could be a part of the fun, since his weak hips made it difficult to walk in snow. New Puppy Fin

After 13 years with us, our sweet Oliver passed away, and again we experienced the inevitable loss that comes with having a golden. Isabel loved going to daycare to socialize and play with other dogs, so she adjusted to not having a companion at home. This past summer, we noticed she had increasing shortness of breath after playing fetch. She went into surgery to repair any faults with her lungs, but we eventually discovered she had lung cancer. Isabel didn’t make her ninth birthday. I could not fathom that she became so sick and passed away so quickly, since I expected to have her into her teens.

After 18 years with a dog, the house was unbearably quiet without one. It was strange not having to hide our shoes or push our food back on the countertop. The kids had their own lives, and I was desperately missing the unconditional love of a dog. Just three months after losing Izzy, we decided to get another golden retriever puppy. His name is Finbar; Fin for short. He has a calm disposition and is already too smart for his own good. It may seem too soon to get another dog after just losing one a few months ago. But Fin has brought back the laughter, loving spirit and fun in our hearts that were filled with heartbreak and sadness since losing Izzy. Isabel Playing Ball

While our hearts have slowly begun to mend, our memories of Izzy, Ollie, and Lulu have not faded. It is impossible to forget the individual personalities and the special love that each one of our goldens gave us, even though we have begun a new chapter in our lives. I have come to the conclusion, after loving and losing three beautiful goldens, that it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have experienced that love at all.