Monday, October 11, 2010

Beata Romney Edwards (2001-2010)


Our youngest child, Beata, passed away tonight. She was the epitome of her namesake, angel; a perfectly well-mannered dog with a lovely disposition. For the past few years she has been my shadow. She would do anything that I asked of her, trusted me completely, and the only time I ever saw her confused was when I couldn’t cure her at the end. I miss her terribly.

The Straight Dope will go into mourning for a period. When I return I promise you a shitstorm. B died senselessly and, ironically, for part of the same reason that our country/world is in the health epidemic we are currently facing. Changing this has been my MO from the start but I’ve never been as personally affected. I guess you see, as advertised, the uncensored Steve on this blog, as compared to my work on our guidebooks and articles, but when I return it will be with a vengeance. If I said that I was mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore it wouldn’t be a cliché. I’m just getting warmed up.

But this is not the time to go into detail. Instead, I want to reflect on a life well lived. We can’t choose how or when we will die. Our only choice is to live as well as we can while we’re here and in this Beata excelled as well as any being I’ve known. She lived for each day. Not recklessly but with abandon. All she wanted was to be loved and for the people and other creatures around her (except gophers) to be active, healthy, and happy. And, when you get right down to it, these are the only things that really matter. She was beautiful through and through and will be missed by many.

14 comments:

screwdestiny said...

I'm very sorry for your loss, Steve.

TheThinker said...

So sorry for your loss steve, It's good to see Tuco is going well. I used to be an animal addict and kept many cats and other animals, when their time came since I was very young it made me feel really bad. Probably since then I have never kept a pet.

Ben said...

Hey Steve,

I'm really sorry to hear about Beata. Take solace in the fact that she lived a great life and had great friends in you and your wife :)

Josh said...

Steve,

Jesus. Speechless. Ellie and Corvus and I are going to make the most of this sad, rainy (fitting) day and pay tribute in our special way to a beautiful dog.

Please tell Romney how sorry we are.

Missing B already.

Josh

Steve Edwards said...

Thanks everyone. Josh, read this to start. There's a lot more where this came from. Ang probably knows but Vioxx still exists for dogs.

http://k911.biz/Previcox_Emails/main.php?g2_page=7

Elaine Katko said...

Sorry for your loss Steve.

Unknown said...

Steve,

Thank you for sharing about such a wonderful family member of yours! Your family will be in my prayers tonight!

Aaron

Aaron B. said...

Steve,

I feel for you. I remember what you told me when Shiva went over the Rainbow Bridge, "It's one of the great injustices of the world that we live longer than our dogs." Scream at the Universe.

bob banks said...

Still hard to wrap my head around it.

Condolences from Bob, Deb & Nuke

Jack said...

Steve,
Sorry for your loss. Keep us informed how we can help to try and prevent this.

Jack said...

Steve,
Sorry for your loss. Keep us informed how we can help to try and prevent this.

Reedster said...

That's horrendous. Sorry to hear. Please give Romney our condolences as well.
~Reed, Amber and Levi

pukester said...

This must be terrible.

Bummed.

Unknown said...

Steve - so sorry to hear about this. Lost my beautiful dog Annie earlier this year after 9 years (an amazing corgie) - I know the hurt, bud.