hollie you came into our family 12 years ago to accompany robson (he was only 6 months old at the time) we went to see your parents before we made our choice. the litter was big and you weren't taking any nonsense. we thought that you would need a bit of "bottle" to stand up to robson. for months you frothed at the mouth and were sick any time you travelled by car. robson and hollie - a match made in heaven. robson only had a short life. he got brain cancer when he was 4. but marc didn't want you to be lonely, so along came harvey. a bond was made, but either, you were getting older or he wasn't your first love.(hopefully i haven't humanised their relationship too much.) give the dog a bone - how apt for you hollie. you'd have gnawed at a bone for hours. the older the better. frequently bones had been buried so long i thought we would have to carbon-date them. then about two years ago - you'd have been about ten by then, along came beth (another rottie) and sonnie (a bullmastiff). by this stage in your life you really couldn't be bothered with youngsters under your feet and we noticed that you would retreat to your kennel a lot. a contributory factor being that beth was fond of sinking her teeth into you. we separated the kennel, keeping the two of you apart. it was hard for us to see you suffer when she mistreated you so badly at this advanced atage of your life. a lump started to develop on your right shoulder. we left this for about a year. it never seemed to cause you any discomfort, and because of your advanced years we didn't want to impose any unnecessary pain and suffering. it was last week that i notice you weren't eating. at first i thought maybe your fresh bones had filled you up. but after 3 nights alarm bells started ringing when you started limping really badly on your left leg. we knew it had to be serious, so off to the vets erin hollie and i went. marc took you back the next day for x-rays. cancer was confirmed. the vet rang straight away so i authorised her to inject you hollie. i'm oh so sorry hollie that none of us were there to hug and hold you, but you were already sedated, and by the time i'd have got there you would have woken up again. why let you suffer more??????? so you'll be back home with us next week and join robson in your little wooden box. i thought i felt you rub against the back of my leg last night while i was in the kithchen. we all miss you. harvey keeps on looking for you. he keeps looking into the kennel which you both shared. he has even gone in and walked around looking over to where you lay. it was a pleasure that god gave you to us to fill our lives and enrich us with your presence.