On June 14, 2008 I lost my very best friend to a tragic accident on Hwy. 42 in Coquille, Oregon.
Crystal Renee Barrett was driving to Coos Bay and a tree fell on her car. That's the accident, and something that I will always remember, but that is NOT who Kristi was.
Kristi was the one that always had a smile and a positive word to share. Kristi was the one that I could call for no reason at all and yet talk to for hours.
I have known Kristi for more than 24 years and while we could go for long periods without talking, we never drifted apart.
Kristi was Tanner's mom, and he was the light of her life! There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for him ... and there's nothing he wouldn't have done for her. They came to Port Angeles every year during Tanner's spring break and we would spend time just hanging out, going to the Olympic Game Farm, trying to get to Hurricane Ridge, and we planned to go to Victoria next year, after Tanner got his passport.
I learned a lot from Kristi while she was alive, and I've learned the most important lesson about life since her death ... you need to tell the people you care about, that you do. You never know when your time is ... and to live each day as if it were your last is not a "cliche", but rather something that we should all do.
I will miss her forever ... she was the sister that I would have chosen if I could have .. but more than that, she was the woman that I admired over all others.
Kristi left behind so many people who loved her and whom she loved. Mark, the love of her life; Marilyn, her mom; Debbie, her sister and serious partner in crime; Julie, her childhood friend that went with her everywhere when they were growing up; Julie's kids, who knew her as "Aunt Kristi"; my kids, who also knew her as Aunt Kristi (and none of these kids ever questioned HOW was she their aunt); Jim, (Tanner's dad) whom she stayed friends with from the beginning to the end; Ryan, her nephew, whom she spoke of so lovingly, even when telling the stories about him doing the things he shouldn't have; and all of you other friends and relatives, that I don't have enough time or space to mention. I can tell you that everyone that was loved by Kristi knew it - she made sure of it!
Yesterday, July 11, was Kristi's 43rd birthday - and today we're honoring her with a bbq ... and hopefully every year from hereon out, we will continue the tradition!
The world is a little lonelier now ... but there is a star that shines brighter, and we all have another angel watching over us!
I love you and I miss you Kristi!!!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Long and Sad Story
It's been a tough summer. We have lost a couple of our girls this summer, and in both cases, we're not completely sure why.
We lost Bluebonnet the first part of June for some unknown reason.
Then Parker's Gourmet Cinnamon, who was due to deliver her boer goat kids on July 2 died two weeks before her due date. We found her outside, just laying around, and she didn't want to get up. We tried all of her favorite treats, but she just wasn't interested.
We checked her for injuries and there was nothing present that we could see, but you could tell she was in distress. When we got her moved, we saw that she had either begun to lose her plug, or she may have started into labor. We checked her, and saw that she had lost all of her ligaments, but she had not dilated at all. We started giving her water (using a turkey baster) and offering her food. She drank a lot, but wasn't interested in food.
We discussed what our options were: 1) we could continue to try to get her moving (and save her); 2) we could euthanize her and try to save her babies. We opted for the first choice,for now. At some point we called the vet and she provided me with some electrolytes, as well as penicillin (she thought it would be better than the LA-200 that I used with another doe after we checked her.) While Cinnamon seemed to be doing better, she still wasn't doing "good".
The vet finally came out around 5:30pm and we decided to give her some fluids via IV and Oxytocin to get her labor going again (it was quite obvious at some point that she was in labor, but not progressing). As soon as we got the IV in, she died. The decision was made to immediately open her up and try to save her babies.
I'm sorry to say that we couldn't save any of them. She had four beautiful babies, two boys and two girls. All of whom were gorgeous. It was a tough day for everyone.
Hayley asked for permission to watch the vet try to save the babies, and we decided that if she wanted to, she could. She came back in the house after they found the babies were also gone and said that it was very interesting (she said she started to say cool, but thought that was just rude!) and that she was glad that she'd watched.
I want to thank Heather at Sequim Animal Clinic for EVERYTHING that she did to help us to save our goats.
We have decided that if this were to happen again that we would probably have to seriously consider all aspects and maybe euthanize the doe sooner to try to save kids.
We lost Bluebonnet the first part of June for some unknown reason.
Then Parker's Gourmet Cinnamon, who was due to deliver her boer goat kids on July 2 died two weeks before her due date. We found her outside, just laying around, and she didn't want to get up. We tried all of her favorite treats, but she just wasn't interested.
We checked her for injuries and there was nothing present that we could see, but you could tell she was in distress. When we got her moved, we saw that she had either begun to lose her plug, or she may have started into labor. We checked her, and saw that she had lost all of her ligaments, but she had not dilated at all. We started giving her water (using a turkey baster) and offering her food. She drank a lot, but wasn't interested in food.
We discussed what our options were: 1) we could continue to try to get her moving (and save her); 2) we could euthanize her and try to save her babies. We opted for the first choice,for now. At some point we called the vet and she provided me with some electrolytes, as well as penicillin (she thought it would be better than the LA-200 that I used with another doe after we checked her.) While Cinnamon seemed to be doing better, she still wasn't doing "good".
The vet finally came out around 5:30pm and we decided to give her some fluids via IV and Oxytocin to get her labor going again (it was quite obvious at some point that she was in labor, but not progressing). As soon as we got the IV in, she died. The decision was made to immediately open her up and try to save her babies.
I'm sorry to say that we couldn't save any of them. She had four beautiful babies, two boys and two girls. All of whom were gorgeous. It was a tough day for everyone.
Hayley asked for permission to watch the vet try to save the babies, and we decided that if she wanted to, she could. She came back in the house after they found the babies were also gone and said that it was very interesting (she said she started to say cool, but thought that was just rude!) and that she was glad that she'd watched.
I want to thank Heather at Sequim Animal Clinic for EVERYTHING that she did to help us to save our goats.
We have decided that if this were to happen again that we would probably have to seriously consider all aspects and maybe euthanize the doe sooner to try to save kids.
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