There are times in our lives when we have to say goodbye to people way too early. That happened to Mary and John Hall. They had a baby named Nora, who they said was always happy. There’s a photo of her in the video that seems like a testament to their description – such a wide smile. Then Nora had a stroke, and doctors said that she wouldn’t live much longer than five months.
Nora didn’t die alone, though, as you can see. Besides her mommy and daddy paying vigil by her bed, she had two canine companions – basset hounds by the names of Gracie and Grumpy. They adored little Nora, and they rarely left her side during her last weeks of her life.
There are times that animals can be amazing to those who are sick or dying. This is one of those times. I’ve known a few basset hounds, and this video is not surprising at all. We see them lying near Nora’s little body, with breathing tubes keeping her body functioning for as long as it could. Maybe they were hoping that their presence could do something to help. Actually, it did – it helped comfort her parents, knowing that this little girl, who was being taken from them way too soon, was loved by more than just them.
This was a hard video to write about. I know that there are times when kids are taken from us way too soon. There are too many news stories about it. As a parent, myself, it makes me tear up like a room full of onions. I see the silver lining here, though. Unfortunately, some kids leave this world alone. That wasn’t the case with Nora. Hopefully, she is looking down at Gracie and Grumpy and her parents and smiling. What a sad but also somewhat uplifting video.
