airmike1
New member
While I was almost 1,000 miles away from my home visiting my parents, my English Bulldog Winston died in his sleep from a stroke at home this last Saturday. Winston was 24 days from turning 10 years old. Quite frankly, I am devastated. Winston had me trained very well in life and helped me deal with both low and high points in life. He helped me understand who I was, and how strong I am. Winston was there when I was dealing with horrible personal health issues, the September 11th attacks, an 8 year relationship implosion, being single and finally, a new 3 year relationship. With unconditional love, my Winston helped me get through it all. He and I have been through a lot through the years.
Even though Winston passed away so suddenly, I am grateful that he lived as long as he did considering he almost lost his life when he was only 3 years old. By the grace of God, I was home when Winston experienced “Bloat,” a condition in which his stomach flipped, twisting his intestines and cutting off circulation that can only be reestablished through emergency surgery. He only had a 50 percent chance of surviving the surgery, however he did. Winston was a fighter from birth since some of his siblings had complications when they were born and perished soon after birth. I understood that English Bulldogs by average live to around 8 years of age. By the time Winston surpassed age 8, I became complacent about the average life spans of bulldogs and large breed animals as I really did not worry about it. Therefore, when Winston suddenly departed from this life of mine, this really swept me off of my feet and sucked the breath out of my lungs. The house is quite. I love you Winston! You are missed terribly!
Winston, 7/26/2001-7/2/2011. Rest in Peace my friend
What a heartfelt tribute to Winston, who was clearly a very important part of your family. I can sympathize as I lost my 11 year old bully in January 2011 and to be honest, the house still feels so quiet after nearly 6 months. 
