Susan van Dijk
I first met Valerie when I shared a hospital room with her mother at the Scarborough Grace. I was very ill and not often conscious but it seemed whenever I awoke Valerie was there, visiting with her Mom. Valerie developed a relationship with my Mother, who was there daily caring for me. Mom told Valerie how much I loved dogs and one day Valerie smuggled one of her Cotonpuppies into the hospital for me to meet! A few years later my health was once again stable and I began to think about getting a dog. I was living in Thunder Bay but as soon as I called Valerie she was willing to help and even ship one of her babies to my Mom and I. It turned out that Valerie had a ten-week-old Coton whose planned family were unable to take him at the last minute. "Josh" has been a beloved companion for almost seven years now. I am so attached to Josh that I decided I wanted to add another Coton to my and my husband's "pack". I'm now living in Calgary but again my first thought was Valerie and I emailed to ask whether she might know of anyone with an adult Coton needing a home. Well...it turns out she once again had a special male for me. This one was her former stud dog, Billy Idol. Billy arrived October 19, 2011 and I spoke with Valerie several times to discuss how he was fitting in (Billy is very timid as he didn't receive proper socialization in his pre-Valerie days). I emailed Valerie some pictures and a note on how well Billy was doing. Sadly, it was Valerie's friend Shelley who responded to my email, informing me of Valerie's death. I still cannot believe such a wonderful lady is gone. As events turned out, it's obvious to me that we were destined to have Valerie's Billy and he is the sweetest, cuddliest, beautiful inside-and-out dog you could ever hope to meet. I know if it's possible, Valerie is watching over us and I try every day to be worthy of the two beautiful furry gifts she has given me.
