25/10/2022
Dear fans of Boo Radley,
It is with a broken heart that I share this...
My beloved, beautiful boy Boo Radley suddenly and unexpectedly collapsed on Saturday afternoon. He stayed in the hospital overnight and the animal hospital found that he had hemangiosarcoma, a cancer that is often impossible to diagnose until it’s too late. He had many masses in his liver, one of them had ruptured and surgery was not an option. They gave him a blood transfusion, medicine and coagulants to make him comfortable, and said there was nothing else to be done except take him home and love him. So we pitched a tent and camped out on our patio on Sunday night, because Boo Radley loves to be outside. Yesterday, I gave him what he always loved best, which is praise. He was never motivated by food or toys, though he loved them. He was happiest hearing he was a good boy. So, every day, I would do a daily affirmation of Boo Radley. I would tell him what I like and admire about him. I would tell him stories about how completely magnificent he is. He loved it. So, I asked all my friends and family to write affirmations for Boo Radley. I wanted him to hear the magnitude of how glorious he was and how much he was loved. I wanted his outrageous good looks celebrated. I wanted his beautiful floof, unique character, charm, cleverness, sense of humor, sheer fabulousness, his simple magic and majesty, his gentle soul, celebrated. Yesterday Boo Radley and I took two long, very, very slow walks around the neighborhood. Whatever he wanted to sniff and wherever he wanted to p*e, he damn well got to. He walked by my side and took it all in with that particular childlike awe of his. In between our walks, we napped, and he ate steak and so many of his favorite filet mingon nutri-dent bones that I lost count, and I read him each and every one of the affirmations that had been written by people who loved him. He heard every word and knew he was the most special boy in the world. We stayed outside in the mist all evening, wrapped in towels and sleeping bags. No tent this time. Just the sky above. Rad loved to be outside in all weather. He dozed in my arms, mostly. He looked at his beloved yard, his favorite place. He sniffed the air and look up at the trees and the sky. We took a stroll around the perimeter. He ate a few more of his filet mignon bones. When our friend, the veterinarian, came into the yard around 9 p.m., his tail came up for the first time in days. He was so very happy to see her. She had always loved him so, and Rad loved her back. He was so full of joy, but even that burst of joy exhausted him. He was so tired. He didn’t want any more bones. He lay down on his favorite patch of stones and I affirmed the ever-loving hell out of him. The brightest light has gone out of my life and took my heart with him.
Thank you each of you loving Boo Radley for all these years. I would read him your posts and he would smie that big, glorious, sunshine filled smile of his. You have given me and my boy a very great gift. I am filled with gratitude for your kindness, and while it’s not as big as my heartbreak, I know that keeping this page and reading your love-filled comments over again will make this devastation more bearable in the days to come.
This photo was taken on August 17 of this year, after I let Radley wrestle an old bed of his that had worn out. I'm calling it “Boo Radley, Master of Destruction, Surrounded by the Pieces of my Broken Heart”. He had such a good sense of humor. I know he'd find it funny. Being his momma was the great joy of my life. He was quite simply magical.
Love,
Chris, Boo Radley’s mom
