In Loving Memory of Mattie

Matilda Mae McNabb
September 2008 – October 21, 2023

Bone cancer doesn’t just disappear. All year, we knew the recurrence was coming. We just didn’t know when. Thankfully it was fast. Beginning in mid-September, Mattie started tiring more easily, needing to sit more often, like her back leg was aching. But she still had more good days than bad. It was hard to tell if this was cancer recurrence, or if it was just that she was 15 years old and three-legged!

Mattie didn’t really struggle till her last five days, when it became quite clear the cancer had recurred. Still, she kept going for daily walks up until two days before she passed!

We’ve learned this is common with the dietary choices we made for her. Recurrence is dramatically delayed—in her case, she lived 3 times longer than expected—and when the recurrence begins, it’s fast. That’s hard on the humans, but way better for the critter.

We’re crushed. But we’re thankful Mattie did not suffer.

A winter storm was in the two-day forecast the day Mattie died. We wonder how much her body knew what was coming! The storm meant we had to go straight from saying goodbye to our buddy, to finishing end-of-season tasks outside. It was a strange mercy: to have to work so hard in the midst of grieving.

Just another gift from a beloved canine friend. Man I miss her, so much.