Thread by @GailSimone

Okay, I have a quick story to tell, and it's a little sad so WARNING but also not-sad.

Many of you know we are a greyhound family. What happened was, it was my husband's birthday years ago, we went to a Walmart on vacation to pick up some things. 1/

And there was a greyhound display from a local rescue organization. We love dogs, but didn't know anything about greyhounds, we thought they were hyper and needed attention 24/7, all that stuff.

One of the dogs, a tall white beauty, absolutely charmed my husband. 2/

Hubby came to tell me about the dog, never figuring I would want a huge speedhound, but I went to go see him and he was so sweet and loving, we took him for a walk and he just was SO HAPPY.

We had to have him. 3/

So we did the house check thing, to make sure we had the right home for him. And we got him, and he just made himself at home immediately.

What we DIDN'T know is, this PARTICULAR greyhound had been adopted and returned FOUR TIMES. 4/

He just waited until you weren't looking and IMMEDIATELY got into mischief. He was always trying to run free, very dangerous for a grey. One former owner was a female boat captain, and he would jump in the water EVEN THOUGH HE COULDN'T SWIM. Like, they had to jump after him! 5/

So we loved him and named him 'Scuro, but in some ways, he was the worst dog we ever had, behavior-wise. He just was too sneaky. But we loved him.

When he passed, we were so in love with the breed, we went to another rescue place to look at a hound they had trouble placing. 6/

Some of you remember, we went up for a black dog with an injury, but a beautiful brindle girl also attached herself to us the whole time. We asked you guys to choose who to take home and you said both and WHAT THE HELL we took both and it was the best decision ever. 7/

Unlike Scuro, these were great, great dogs, loving and happy, and incredibly well-behaved. One had been a brood bitch, she had been kept pregnant as much as possible, but immediately adapted to having a home and a family, and she was GORGEOUS, like stunning. 8/

She was a delicate princess and every move she made looked like a pose from royalty.

The other dog, which we named Vixen, was the opposite. She was clunky and afraid of every noise. Everything scared her.

9/

With some rescued racers, they have never been in a home, never had a toy, never really been petted or held. Everything is new and scary to them, glass, cars, even their beds are a little scary at first. And she was ALL of that and more, no socialization at all. 10/

She was just terrified of everything. The first night, she just stood on her bed, staring, and drooled in fear. It was heartbreaking and nothing worked. The other dog, settled in, enjoyed attention and snacks and toys. Vixen, no, everything scared her. 11/

We worried a lot. But a breakthrough came the first time we took them to the beach on a long leash. Vixen started to take it in, and then just. BAM, like a light switch, she was joyful and didn't know how to express it, so she just started running in circles and barking. 12/

She was experiencing real happiness, real dog-hood, for the first time. Seeing her barking out random barks when she'd been too afraid to even lay on her bed was VERY tear-making.

The ride home, she cuddled for the first time of her own volition. 12/

And she became the best dog we ever had. Fiercely loyal, endlessly loving and gentle, all she wanted was to be with her family. And she developed a love of carrying her stuffed toys around. She would run get one every time we walked to another room. 13/

So she was never without a toy, she laid her head on them, she carried one everywhere. Her favorite was a Pride bear, I had to mend that thing many times.

And she was the BEST therapy dog. If you were hurting or stressed, she sensed it every time, and would just cuddle. 14/

We loved our other greys very much, but Vixen is a special, once-in-a-lifetime dog. In her entire life, we never had to yell at her or even discipline her. And seeing her go from terrified to happiest dog ever was a journey I wouldn't trade for the world. 15/

The funniest thing is, I called Vixen my co-writer because she LOVED to be in the office with me whenever I was writing. She would cuddle on the couch and not make a sound, and it makes a very lonely occupation seem a lot less so.

But every good dog story has a sad bit... 16/

We had been doing a mini tour of cons, in Greece and Argentina last year. It was lovely but exhausting. We got a note from our son who said Vixen was limping.
She had had a racing injury that was untreated, we didn't think too much of it. 17/

We got home, she was unable to put weight on her right front leg at all. And was clearly in pain. We thought maybe she'd broken it. Went to the vet, and it wasn't a fracture. Her shoulder was full of cancer, it had eaten through the bones. 18/

Nearly every dog is someone's best dog. But this was very rough. And the SAME day, we had two family tragedies and my personal well was almost dry.

I could not bear to think of the world's best and sweetest soul in pain. So she had to be put to sleep. 19/

We had to wait four days. It was right before Christmas.

We were all a mess. And every day was harder for her, she couldn't even move around without tremendous pain.

She still wanted to cuddle and be with us. And as always, her stuffed toys. 20/

It was hard, some of you might remember I took a break from twitter. I lost my brother at the same time, and a close family member was diagnosed with cancer. It was a bleak time, hard to come to twitter and tell jokes and be silly.

21/

Finally, she was gone and that was very rough. She was the dog who cheered us all up whenever anyone got blue and now we were blue and she was gone.

We had a new greyhound by then, Dasher. Dasher LOVED her sister and it was clearly a loss for her, as well. 22/

Every day since, we still miss Vixen. She wasn't just special, she was like THE DOG, that legendary dog you remember your whole life.

So we get a little sad when we find one of her toys she'd hidden, or see a photo of her.

Then this thing happened. 23/

I have this reader, she's a cosplayer and she's funny and lovely and brilliant and I adore her, and she goes by @cloudspretty on twitter.

And out of the blue, she sends me a dm.

She says, "I finished painting you a new painting. Where should I send it?" 24/

And she sent me this.

TEARS LIKE TWIN GUSHERS.

Not only is that beautiful, she captured Vixen's complete soul. So now, when I walk through the hallway of my house from now on, Vixen will still be watching over us, and we can see the love in her eyes. 26/

I'm telling you, even thinking about it NOW, I'm tearing up.

Clouds, that is one of the most wonderful and meaningful gifts I've ever been given. I will cherish it like you can never imagine. THANK YOU, MY FRIEND.

27/

SHE EVEN HAS HER TOY.

28/

This SEEMS like it's a dog story.

But it's actually a kindness story, and a twitter story, and a gratitude story.

This kind of stuff, it happens a lot. Not maybe this huge, but kindnesses from readers happen a LOT.

29/

Readers bring me things they made with their own hands, they share things about their families with me, they bring their babies for me to hold at cons. It's endless, and it's all kindness. It's just astonishing to me. I often, when traveling, have to buy an extra case for gifts.

I was not raised in a house where there was a lot of that. People didn't just give gifts out of kindness.

And it's not the gift so much, it's the generosity, the thoughtfulness of it all. To this day, it's sometimes hard for me to understand it, I don't feel deserving.

That Christmas was dark, we weren't going to do anything, just kind of have a grief time. At the last minute, we decided to at least have a nice dinner and one gift.
But readers had sent Christmas gifts, especially @KalelData, who carefully chose gifts for the entire family.

@KalelData And it made a crappy time so much nicer.

I want to say it again, it's not the gifts. PLEASE don't feel you have to bring something.

It's everything. The support, the hugs at cons, the beautiful stories you share...

@KalelData And best of all, my favorite, is when I meet a reader and they say they want to make a comic, and a couple years later, they show up in a signing line proudly showing me their first comic they made...

Guys, I can't describe that feeling.

@KalelData So, anyway. This is why I don't charge for signatures and never will.

This is why if you bring me a hundred comics to sign at a con, I will sign them gladly.

This is why I keep going to cons at all, really.

@KalelData So I made this thread to say thank you. You cannot even imagine how grateful I am to have met and talked to so many of you.

There are a LOT of great things about this job.

The readers are without question the BEST thing.

Thank you forever.