Such a sweet little face, with his fur, scrunched around sightless eyes. Luke, a little 17-year-old miniature pug, Blind, deaf and unable to use his hind legs.
I received a call from Rebekah in Seattle asking about my services as a Realtor specialist in helping people sell their loved one’s estates or when they are moving into a senior community. Rebekah’s husband Michael is the nephew of Linda and Harold Gross, an aging childless couple with a home in Lutz, a suburb of Tampa. Harold, the husband, suffered a physically debilitating stroke five years ago, causing his wife Linda to be his full-time caregiver.
Linda and Harold were devoted animal lovers. Cats, birds and dogs, especially pugs filled their hearts. Seventeen-year-old Luke, the current miniature pug, was blind, deaf and without the use of his hind legs. And Linda was so devoted to little Luke, then after the stroke, as soon as she was able to speak, she made nephew Michael, promise to not put the dog down. Being a good man, he, of course, gave his word.
Michael relayed that Luke was being kept in the care section of the veterinarian clinic at the cost of $130 a day, $4,000 a month. That needed to stop quickly, as the Grosses were in a costly, private facility themselves.
I immediately used social media/email/text/phone campaign to all the pet rescue organizations, because of my specialization of estates and seniors, with whom I have established excellent relationships. A band of angels, Laurie Denman, Bea Nicholson, Gilli Bekhor, Mary Skinner, Kelly Probst and the pugrescueofflorida.org sprang into action with Laurie accepting the role of keeping Linda’s wish literally, alive. (That’s her hand feeding Luke in the picture).
Sadly, Linda’s condition worsened and she passed away on November 19, 2017. And in the way the world works, Luke crossed the rainbow bridge on November 27, 2017. It is comforting to know that they were both well taken care of in their last days.
