LIZABON

September 1, 1986 -
May 4, 2000

Fly with Angels, Sweet Gizzy!

Let me share with you this love of mine, always and forever.
When you need me, know that I am here.
I have not left you, for I am in your heart where I belong.
Our love is eternal, as is the brilliant glow of candle light
which illuminates the path to the heavens and Rainbow Bridge.
I wait patiently, as do you, for our inevitable and glorious reunion.
I love you, I love you, I love you."-
From
Christmas At Rainbow Bridge

 

Then -- we could easily be afraid,
and think that we would feel
this awful sadness -- forever.

She Is Fine
save for one thing...
she wants so much that  you should feel comforted ...

Grieve.
But when you breath, and wipe the tears
and feel the sunrise -- know
a bright pair of eyes is watching you
waiting to make contact again.....
sending, along with her new companions,
such streams of love and light and healing to you..
as would fill the universe with a note of joy
ringing forever --- forever --
From
How we remember
Angels
by Sage Benoist

Lizabon (alias Giz or Liz) was a sweet, tiny white and red Greyhound, retired from racing and from motherhood. She lived to be almost 14 years old, but until very close to the end she looked and acted younger. She came to live with us on October 21, 1997, from Klassic Kennels in Louisburg KS. Before that she was the grand matron on Ron and Sue Anderson's Greyhound farm. Right now nearly all the Greyhounds on their farm are either children or grandchildren of Giz. But Ron decided Giz had contributed enough and it was time for her to enjoy the good life, so he sent her to live with us. We were honored to have her. She was a joy to live with and taught us much about strength, dignity, and humor.

Sofa spud Lizabon, Liz, Giz, Gizzard,
Gizmo, Gizzy Girl... a sofa
spud no matter what you
call her. If any hound ever
earned that spot, she did. But
she shared it graciously with
the other hounds. If it got
too crowded she'd just get up
and go to bed...OUR bed
!



Click for more pictures of Giz and her family


Some of Giz's Pedigree (stay tuned - I have more, which I'll post as soon as I can):

      Trap Rock
    Hairless Joe Kahana
  Dutch Bahama    
  | Dutch Debit Woodward
  |   Dutch Discreet
LIZABON
Whelped
9/1/86
     
  |   Annexed
  | Pecos Cannon Classy Babe
  Revere Belle    
    Gold Money Cactus Lonesome
      JN's Lou C Mar

Note: you can click on Dutch Bahama's name above to see his entry in the Hall of Fame.


Giz's moving to West Virginia is a wonderful story. But it requires a bit of background. Over a period of months in 1997, several people who had adopted retired racing Greyhounds got to know each other through the internet. We developed such closeness and trust that we began to feel like a family. Our "mom", Connie Cassidy, "adopted" us all and we became the Cassidy Clan. At that point the clan was made up of Connie, her birth daughter Cammie Hernandez, and her adopted kids, Marc Merel, Jan Stewart, Kathy Darfler and Kate Shue (me). The clan has grown since then. Anyway, in late September the rest of us started planning to fly to Kansas for a surprise visit with sister Jan. Knowing that Jan was very close friends with Ron and Sue Anderson (as were some of the rest of us), and because Ron and Sue lived nearby, we let them in on our plans in case we needed their help in pulling off the surprise. Ron and Sue immediately invited the whole crowd to spend the weekend at their wonderful Greyhound farm, Klassic Kennels.

So on October 17, all of us arrived and had the time of our lives over a much too short weekend. Stevie's pups (see Giz's picture page) were 7 weeks old, and we all thought we were in heaven! We all reveled in puppy breath and tons of laughter and love among our family. And Ron and Sue were officially adopted into the Cassidy Clan.

But it was over much too soon. On Sunday morning, Connie, Cammie, Marc and Kathy had to fly home. Because of airline schedule vaguaries, I was staying until Monday. Late Sunday afternoon a discussion arose about Giz's future. Ron had already retired her from breeding, and was concerned about her having to go through another Kansas winter in the kennel. He wanted her to live the good life she had earned. He considered placing her in a local adoption program, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing contact with a dog who had had a major role in building the farm, and whom he and Sue loved dearly. So it was decided that Giz would fly home to West Virginia with me the next morning! So Giz became the "Official Cassidy Hound" and now she really belongs to all of us. We stay in contact by email on a daily basis, so everybody can keep track of how she's doing. And so far she's doing just fine, having settled into home life with amazing speed! The best part is that the clan has a wonderful obsession with getting together in one place or another pretty regularly, and usually the dogs get to come along, so Giz gets to see a lot of her family often (but not often enough!) Giz does love to travel and has made several rather long trips in the van with us.

When Giz came to live with us, she joined three other retired racers that we had already adopted. One, Cassidy, is Giz's niece, as Cassidy's mother is Giz's half-sister. Giz's other new "siblings" were CJ and Blarney. Later the pack was joined by LB, Tony, MONSTER, Willie, and Elvis. Elvis became Giz's best pal. When she was sick, shortly before she died, Elvis guarded her faithfully. And Giz wouldn't sleep unless she could see Elvis nearby.

Some of the Cassidy Clan spent Thanksgiving 1997 weekend together in St. Joseph, Michigan. It was Giz's first big road trip and the first time the rest of the family had seen her since our visit to Kansas in October six weeks earlier. She was a champ the whole weekend. She happily accepted all the fuss that was made over her and chose this opportunity to get on a bed for the first time with Aunt Jan there to see it (and record it for posterity on several yards of film!) The trip really brought Giz out of her shell, not that she was really in one before that. But she blossomed like a rose with lots of 2-legged and 4-legged family around. A kennel dog six weeks before, she quickly became a loving, well-behaved, family pet with infinite patience and a wry sense of humor. She had all those qualities all along, but she didn't get much chance to show them off until now. My friend Kate Bressler says that the joys of adopting these old gals is a well kept secret. Maybe we should let the secret out.

There really is something special about senior Greyhounds. Each one is his or her own miracle, and a study in quiet dignity. But not enough people realize that yet. If you're considering adoption, please give serious thought (and research) to adopting a senior (8 years or older). Many are available for adoption from many sources. Sometimes they are dogs like Giz who have retired from a breeding career. Other times they are dogs who have already lived in other adoptive homes but for one reason or another were returned. In either case, these wonderful dogs have given even more of themselves than the younger ones and truly deserve to spend their remaining years in homes where they will be loved and cared for.

For more information on senior Greyhounds, please visit some of these sites:


Check out the awards we've won OR see if your page qualifies for our award.


Our own links:

Almost Heaven Greyhound Adoption

CJ's Hangout - our first Greyhound...the one who started the whole thing!

Blarney's Castle - our second Greyhound. Read about his adoption from his point of view.

Cassidy's Cozy Corner - our third Greyhound, a real Daddy's girl (and Giz's niece)!

LB's Black Dog Pub - our fifth Greyhound, and a Mama's boy like Blarney.

Tony's temporary page - our sixth Greyhound!

The Monster Movie - our seventh Greyhound, the puppy beastie!

Our GREYHOUNDS! page - a general page about adoption of racing Greyhounds.

The Cassidy Clan Page - meet the whole clan!

Prayers for Pets -

Prayers for Pets
a nice bunch of folks who say special prayers for sick, injured or lost pets and for the people who love them.

Check out the Hound Mountain page! We make all kinds of neat stuff for Greyhound folks and part of the money goes to Greyhound adoption organizations.


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