Sweet Gracie Mae

We said good-bye to one of the sweetest and  most loyal companions we've ever know today.

In December of 2002 my dear friend, Angel, found a stray plot-hound in the Cherokee National Forest. We were still newly married and only had cats. We very much wanted a dog. So we welcomed her into our home and named her Sadie. Little did we know, she was in heat when we took her into our home. My dad's dog got her pregnant....like immediately. So on February 27, 2013, we welcomed 8 plot-hound-lab mix puppies into our home. Sadie gave birth in the barn and Chris transported them inside the house and we bought a big plastic baby pool to keep them contained. Well, that only kept them contained for a few weeks. They were a bunch of adorable rascals and were all over our apartment. I don't remember the mix of boys and girls, but most of them were black with either white or brown trim. There were two brindle girls. We decided to keep one of the spunky brindle girls. We carefully searched for homes for all of the puppies. Chris's best friend even took one. We were childless at the time and Gracie was our furbaby.

We bought our first home in October of 2003 and moved Gracie with us, along with our two cats. Sadie (her mom) was a hunting dog and either got lost or stolen before we moved. Gracie was lonely so we adopted a crazy pound puppy, named Copper. They were good buddies and had lots of good times together. Copper was a lunatic and even though she was tiny, she could jump our 6 ft. privacy fence. When Harrison was hospitalized as an 8 week old, Copper jumped the fence and escaped. Gracie was buddy-less again. This time she wasn't as lonely. I think she realized how crazy her sister was. 

She loved jumping and kissing

Wrestling with Chris

Laying on her monogrammed bed

We moved back to the farm in January 2006, and Gracie was happy to be reunited with her dad, Rex. She became more of an outdoor girl and learned to hunt. She also went for daily swims in the pond and daily runs in the woods. She was happy. When we moved back to Chattanooga, in October 2008, we tried to take Gracie with us. She escaped the fenced in back yard and was gone for nearly a week. Once she found her way home, we knew she belonged at the farm with her dad and the ability to roam freely. My parents welcomed her back to the farm and she lived happily ever after.

Gracie was active up until this past winter. She was a healthy and happy girl and was still as sweet as can be. She started wearing down and by mid June, she started going downhill fast. She lost a lot of weight and had a hard time walking. She lost most of her appetite this last week. These past two days she lost control of her back legs and her bladder function. We all knew it was inevitable and today was the day. Our sweet Gracie Mae's body was shutting down and it was time to have her put to sleep. Chris held her head, pet her ears, and she gazed into his eyes until she took her last breath. We buried her today on my parent's farm. It felt like the right thing to do, since she loved it here so much. We are going to miss her  like crazy. A little piece of my heart left today with her.

Rest in Peace, Gracie Mae Holbrook. February 27, 2013 - July 9, 2014. There will never be another dog quite as awesome as you were.