2014, Day 235 - Rocket

Tonight I wanted to pay tribute to an amazing girl.  For almost a decade I volunteered in greyhound adoption and one day the tiniest goofiest pup came into the adoption kennel.  Like most of her litter she showed no interest in racing and ended up being placed with a family.  A few years later she turned up as "free to good home" on Craigslist.  Given that I hadn't placed her but knew who she was I contacted the people giving her up and they happily handed her over.

When I told my friend Terri that Crystal was coming back she knew exactly who I was talking about because she fostered her for a time.  There was no doubt or hesitation, Crystal was going back to Terri and her partner.  And the "pocket rocket" found her forever home.  She had a mouth full of bad teeth that were pulled and somehow the tongue hanging out of her mouth just fit her personality.  Always a puppy, Crystal was a complete delight but, unfortunately, she was recently diagnosed with cancer and yesterday she passed away.

She lived a wonderful life both giving and receiving endless amounts of love.  Wherever she went Crystal brought joy because she was so sweet and goofy.  I took this picture in 2010 and I can still remember how she lay to rest before leaping back into the air to show me how she could fly across the grass with her feet barely touching the ground.  Crystal will be sorely missed.

Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 100/f2.8L IS
100mm, f2.8, 1/4000 sec @ 640 ISO