04/30/2026
This one has been so very hard that I have been, right up until just now, completely at a loss for words. On April 17, we lost my canine niece, Antietam Rivers (). Antietam was sweet, kind hearted, benevolent, smart, good natured, adventurous, strong, gentle, inquisitive, devoted to her family, and absolutely so very funny. She was a lover of almost everything: food, toys, treats, nature, people, dogs, cats, you name it. 🐾
To be loved by Antietam was being folded into a giant, fuzzy blanket of warmth and tenderness. She walked into a room and it lit up. She was, as they say, “a friend, a friend would like to have” and she had a bond with her human mother that reminded me so much of my bond, with my own. She wasn’t “just a dog“, she was one of my very best friends, and I told her so every time I saw her. 🙏🏻
Antietam paid attention to everything around her. She was a wonderful listener and a brilliant communicator. Many a time, when there were things, inside of me, that I couldn’t tell people, I told Antietam…and I know that she listened, and heard, and understood. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do with myself now, that there is no one to conjole me into ongoing belly rubs, trying to wiggle their way into my car, to shake water all over me after swimming in my pool, or herd me to the couch for snuggle time. ❤️
Rest in peace, my sweet, beautiful friend. The Earth is a little less bright without you here…and I’m sure that, by now, you’ve figured out a way to steal chicken strips from the heavens. - Your Aunt, who loves you, always and forever, and to the moon and back ❤️🐾🙏🏻❤️
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