Photos by Flavia Potenza
(Left) Tippy before. We loved Tippy’s furry look but it was a foxtail magnet so during the pandemic my neighbor would tidy it up with scissors while he sat on my lap. (Right) Tippy after. You could only tell he was a poodle after his visits to the salon.
My little guy, Tippy, a Parti Poodle, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday, January 9, after a long bout of metastatic cancer with ugly tumors erupting that were surgically removed.
I inherited him three years ago when he was seven. A friend’s mother had passed away and her daughter was looking for a home for him. Since I had lost my Papillion, Pip, earlier that year, of course I said yes. At Thanksgiving I discovered Tippy was a foodie and when dinner came, he jumped off my lap, working the room like a pro. Food and laps were his thing. He liked being close.
2022 was a year of adversity like no other that has carried into 2023 with Tippy’s suffering and passing being the latest. Big transitions like people close to me dying, an auto accident, learning to live without a car, and now, having to find another place to live are big transitions all happening at once.
So I sat in my grief and let the welcome rain keep me company. The music of the creek, like movements in a symphony, accompanied my rage as I watched Tippy struggle to live.
