In early 1999, our vet diagnosed Hiwa's liver problem and warned us that she likely wouldn't survive. But an extended period of antibiotics and hand feeding of fresh delicacies kept her going beyond the odds for two more years.
Although she remained fragile, Hiwa was able to do things that she liked pretty much up to the end. I took this photo while she was out patroling the yard less than a week before she died. Even on the day she passed away, Hiwa was able to make a last visit to her favorite spots, and to spend some time in the ferns along the driveway where she liked to hide and watch the world go by.
And as the following day dawned, Hiwa received a most spectacular sendoff, surely a sign of some kind that we weren't the only ones to mourn her passing.
