A Special Tribute To Mia

rd,: 2024

So it's been a year of grieving and I'm still grieving and, um, just wanted to share a few thoughts, just know I didn't prepare anything for this episode. I don't have any notes. I'm just kind of shooting off the cuff here and wanted to share some words. Um, but it's been a year, which I can't believe this has to be the fastest year ever, because I can't believe.

A year ago today, I was driving her to the vet and not coming home with her. Uh, it was a little bit unexpected. She was, she was in poor health, uh, kind of at the end. She passed away at age 20. So I got a lot of mileage from her, which I'm very grateful. But as they say, it's never long enough. And it truly was not long enough, despite the 20 years that I'm blessed to have spent with Mia.

Yeah. So, she had had kidney disease. Uh, we were giving her fluids for the last couple years of her life. She had kidney disease. She was diagnosed when she was 16. Um, and then we didn't start giving her fluids, I think, until she was about 18. Um, she also had a tooth issue. Um, so she had an infected tooth that we weren't able to get pulled because by the time we found out, She was too old for anesthesia.

We were a little bit too risky. She had poor mobility And I thought it was always just arthritis and arthritis advancing. We did some laser treatment I did acupuncture a few times But I think maybe she also had some symptoms of stroke which are different I guess in a cat than humans So it seemed like that maybe affected her mobility and that had gotten worse just the you know Just the last few months and weeks before she passed away and then the thing that actually got her Was she was diagnosed with lymphoma just in late May of last year and she died in on June 23rd So she only had it for three or four weeks Um, and when I took her to the vet on June 23rd, I didn't know I was going to be saying goodbye to her.

She was very frail. Her mobility had gotten bad. Her eating was a little bit sporadic, but she had eaten that morning and she had had laser treatment, uh, done the Tuesday. So she passed away on a Friday. The Tuesday prior, she had laser treatment for her mobility. It had gotten a little bit worse. So I had emailed the vet, my vet.

Dr. Wolfhurst and Riverside Vet in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was always good about, you know, Say just bring her in, you know, it didn't matter that I didn't have an appointment So I said bring Mia in and we'll we'll fit her in. So on Friday morning on the June 23rd, I Had emailed dr. Wolferson. I think I emailed her actually the night before Said hey, could we get more laser treatment?

And so I went to the vet thinking we were just getting laser treatment and I was going to take Mia home. Obviously knowing that, you know, she didn't have long, but she was a fighter. Maybe she had more, you know, a few more months left in her. Well, it turned out that her, let's see, her white blood cell count was too low and her lymphos lymphocyte count was too high.

She had, had, uh, uh, lymphocytes, I guess that type of cancer. And Dr. Wolfer said it was time. I'm thankful. She said, I'm thankful. She, you know, ultimately it was my decision, but I'm thankful that she said it was time because it's hard to make that decision if you've been through it, which you may have been listening to this podcast, you may have had to make that decision and you might know that it's extremely difficult to make that final call.

And that was a year ago, which again, I can't believe that it's been so long. It just seems like it's only been, you know, a couple months and Mia had these gorgeous, beautiful green eyes. And, um, you know, I just can't believe that I don't get to see those eyes anymore. And she had this knack kind of at the, uh, as she got older, she became even more sweet and she would hold my hand with her paw.

ad her. Um, I adopted her in: 2003

. Uh, so that was August of: 2019

pet. I was losing no more in: 2016

So just having a pet like Mia. Um, especially during COVID was very, very comforting to just have her. Uh, and then I was basically having to be her caretaker, uh, 24 seven, um, really over the last several months, last year, I'm not sure when you would describe the caretaking as being 24 seven, but, um, just that's, she was my, my main focus.

So here we are. And, um, I know I provide these pet loss meditations and affirmations, but really I'm not an expert in, in grief or pet loss grief or any type of grieving. Um, I'm experiencing it, uh, as you are. And just, just so you know, I'm, I'm going through the same things. And I've said, as I've said, we all grieve differently.

So what it looks like for me, is probably different than what it's looking like for you. Kind of the cool thing that I did today to honor Mia, I like to hike. And so, I live near the Smoky Mountains, so I'm about an hour away. And one of the hardest hikes in the Smoky Mountains is a mountain called Mount La Conte.

Uh, round trip it's about 11 miles, and it's a really steep incline. And I decided I'm going to hike this in honor and to tribute as a tribute to Mia, to honor her, to remember her. So I took a picture of Mia with me. I've got a journal with her picture on it. I've got a water bottle. With a sticker of her on it.

So I like to say she was with me every step of the way. And I'm trying to do kind of the way that I'm trying to process my grief or, or move through my grief is to do things, to honor Mia and no more her brother by, um, just doing things like hikes and I'm, I'm putting together events, uh, for other people that have lost their pet.

Hiking events here locally in Knoxville. I put on a kitten yoga event in the spring and raised money. And my mission is to put on these outdoor events and experiences that we can do to honor the memory of our beloved pet and to raise money for people that are having a hard time affording vet care. Uh, that's something, you know, as, as Mia got Uh, those, those vet visits were very frequent and she was on medication.

And so those vet bills really. Really piled up and so one of my missions. I was fortunate that I was able to Pay them, but I always thought to myself gosh I would hate to have to make a decision about Mia's health based on finances So what I'm looking to do besides putting together these experiential outdoor events to help honor and celebrate our beloved pets is to raise money, um, to help people that are having a tough time affording vet care.

So I'm creating a, uh, Mia and Nomar fund and I'm really excited about that. And so that's kind of helping me It's putting a smile on my face that I'm pledging to just Do things that'll help me Remember Mia and Nomar do things in their honor and that's what's keeping me positive. Uh, and that's what's helping me through my grief.

Uh, other people might not work, but that's, I think just doing something in their honor and in their name to make an impact that really is helping me through this time. So anyway, uh, just wanted to share this with you. It's one year since Mia passed away. I love her dearly. I think of her Every day, multiple times a day.

I'll never not think of her each day. And I'm sure you probably feel the same way about your pet. The other thing, just as before I sign off, I know I just met, this podcast is still fairly new. Don't really have a way set up for you to communicate with me. But if you would like, if you have a message you want to send me, If you're on Instagram, just my, uh, username is Scott Colby.

So just at Scott Colby, S C O T T C O L B Y. You can find my profile. Feel free to follow me there. And if you need to send me a message, feel free to send me a direct message. I'd be happy to, uh, get to know you. Um, and maybe I'll do more of these kind of off the cuff type episodes as we move forward. But that's it.

Just thinking of you, Mia, um, you're the inspiration for this podcast. Wanted to do good for people that are grieving the loss of their pets. So thank you, Mia. I'm super grateful for you and for the listeners. Thank you for listening and, um, just know that I'm with you during this time. Take care.