Final Resting Place

8th July 2011 to 6th March 2020

After losing our beautiful Bella to Thyroid Carcinoma and stomach Cancer at only 8 3/4 years, we had the dilemma of how to honour our girl.

We buried out last Bullmastiff “Rastus” in a very large hole in sandy soil at our old home in Mackay, R.I.P Rastus. She was gently covered with her towel and red roses.

With Bella being bigger than Rastus and the red clay soil in Wagga Wagga too challenging to dig a hole without the aid of large equipment, we opted for cremation.

So then how do you honour an amazing pet that has followed you through nine house moves across two states? With a massive tree, of course! So my next challenge was to find a nursery who was able to source a large tree and then what type of tree would suit Bella?

The location was arranged for the dog pen and after some internet research we decided on an ornamental tree, Chinese Elm (Todd), the fancy pants version of the Chinese Elm. I then learned that the next street over was lined with the Chinese Elm, an omen indeed that this was the appropriate tree for our girl.

On the day of delivery I was expecting a 4 metre tree, however a 6 metre tree arrived and what a specimen. With some grunting we maneuvered the tree next to the planter box and Graeme and I planted it the following day.

As the tears rolled down, Graeme and I scattered her ashes around her tree and covered her with our rose petals. Our baby girl is now in her final resting place.

R.I.P. our beautiful Bella girl, we love and miss you so much…