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| OUR JOSIE |
Everything presented here would have never come to pass if it were not for our Josie, therefore, this is his legacy that he left us to share and help others. He lives on.
We adopted Josie in January of 1994. He just turned two years old in November 1993. He became our "Heart Dog" after much acclimating. At first we both worked and he spent many hours alone waiting for us to come home. Sharon eventually took him literally everywhere with her, including to work during his convalescing. We spent many days and weeks at our vacation property on Klinger Lake, located between White Pigeon and Sturgis Michigan. Josie "loved" Michigan.
When Josie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at the end of November 1996 we were devastated. As you will learn in this website we did something right to help him survive 37 months. In addition to his cancer, the poor guy suffered from occassional strokes and a thyroid problem. He always responded quickly to treatment and even in the end he was so strong willed to live that he required extra injections to help him pass.
Because his survival was so unheard of, our story was told to many people throughout the country. We have spent many hours on the phone, in person, and on the internet retelling his story and what we did to treat him.
More than a year after his passing we have finally come to composing this site about our Beautiful Josie. Here you will find the many e-mails we've sent to people who have asked us for advice upon learning of their fur-kid's Osteosarcoma diagnosis. Also included, are many articles, prayers, beautiful thoughts and condolences we've received while going through this ordeal. We found them to be comforting. This is a gut-wrenching experience and some chicken soup will help you too.
We must not forget to mention our second Greyt, Pilot. After Josie's amputation in late August of 1998 it appeared then that his time was near. We adopted poor Pilot in December of 1998 to help ease the pain of the enivitable loss of Josie. Little did we know that Pilot would also succumb to the same horrible disease. Please take a moment to read the story of Pilot.
Be sure to go to the tribute website for Josie and Pilot. Also please visit the sites linked there.
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| JOSIE | PILOT |
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| KACY | ROODY |
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| DEBI |
On MY OWN dying day I will speak his name. . .
JOSIE.
Art
I too will be thinking and speaking Josie's name when my end time comes. I have never had an animal make such an indelible mark on my life as Josie has. Going through all of his different illnesses & then the cancer, I witnessed him constantly come back & fight with all of the determination he could muster and it was so inspiring to me. I felt that once we had access to the world wide web that I wanted all to know how I felt about my boy, thus, I created a signature phrase for our closings to letters & email correspondence:
RETIRED RACING GREYHOUNDS HAVE LIVED WITH A LOT OF ADVERSITY IN THEIR SHORT LIVES, AND YET . . . NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE AND MYSTIFY US.
OUR LIVES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME NOW THAT WE HAVE LOVED THEM.
Sharon
 | Doctor Harold Reece |
| Dr. Reece with Kacy |
himself." Billings |
