A Love Letter: Saudade

To People and Animals We Left Behind in Costa Rica

November 11, 2024

The Portuguese word, Saudade, is used to express the emotions, feelings, and nostalgia involved in the intense longing for loved ones, places, and things that are no longer in our lives.  This post is dedicated to the kind humans in Costa Rica who adopted our pets and continue ti keep us connected to Tony, Izzie, Linda, and Quila.  We are forever appreciative.

Gary and I have been traveling since August 9, 2023 since we left our beautiful home and peaceful pure vida existence in Nosara, Costa Rica. We were able to leave Costa Rica with very few worries because kind people adopted our four beloved pets.  We are grateful to Marcia and her family, to Juan and his parents, and to Sherry for sharing their hearts and homes with our babies.  Marcia, Juan, and Sherry have assumed the huge responsibility and financial obligation to care for our treasured four-legged family members. 

A heartfelt thanks goes to the wonderful Canadian family, Marcia and Mike, and their two teenage sons in Nosara, Costa Rica who adopted our adolescent Mastiffs, Tony and Izzie.  “Two-tone” and “Biz-ness” are thriving with their now family.  Today, Tony and Izzie are almost, but not quite, fully grown. It takes a long time–about three years–for Mastiffs to reach full size!  According to Marcia, Tony is a very attentive and loving-to-his-humans dog who is extremely serious about his work as the family guardian.  Playful Izzie often leaves patrol tasks to Tony and is in doggy heaven when she’s near water.  These days, when Izzie is not napping or playing tug-of-war with Tony, she can be found splashing in mud puddles or racing back and forth in the creek on Marcia’s property.

Mil gracias to Juan and his parents in the Central Valley near San Jose who adopted Linda, our beach rescue pup.  Linda had a difficult life early in her life, but once she found us, all of our lives were much better.  With little complaint, Linda tolerated a Leonberger, a Chihuahua, Quila the cat, and finally, helped to train Tony and Izzie, the two Mastiff puppies.  Linda was the animal we worried most about when we decided to leave Costa Rica.  We stopped worrying when we met Juan, who came into our lives when he contacted us to buy our SUV. 

When Juan found out we were leaving Costa Rica and that we were so concerned about Linda’s future, he immediately offered to adopt her.  Just like that!  Juan’s kindness provided Linda with a loving, safe environment for the second time in her life. 

Juan always makes sure Linda always has access to a car house. To be near her person is the best, but the second best place for Linda is to be inside a parked car, probably because she feels protected.  We are relieved to know that Linda will live the rest of her life with people who love her, protect her, and take care of her. 

And, to Sherry, my dear friend of 45 years—thanks for accepting Quila (aka Tequila and Killer) into her home in Liberia, Costa Rica.  Sherry says that Quila is slowing down as time goes on, but she still has moments of kitten glee.  Siri, Sherry’s dog, complained to me, via WhatsApp that Quila immediately took over Siri’s dog bed, but it’s all fine now—Siri gets to stretch out and sleep on the sofa!

When she was a tiny, barely alive kitten, Quila found us in the courtyard of our office building.  Despite her size, Quila has always had a big personality since we first met each other.  During her inside-the-house life in Evergreen, Colorado, The Feline Queen of the Universe taught four Newfoundlands, a Saint Bernard rescue, a Leonberger rescue, three other rescued cats, and two resident humans to behave appropriately around her highness. 

When Quila retired with us to the jungle of Nosara, she became an intrepid outdoor ‘explorer’ who observed her new surroundings from a safe distance, never far away from Gary, her person.  We could always tell when Quila got spooked by something because she would race around the corner of the house, run inside, and hurry upstairs to her sanctuary in our bedroom.  Until she became Sherry’s pet, every day in Nosara when it wasn’t overcast, just before the sun began to set, Quila joined her humans and her doggy companions to say goodbye to the day—I miss that daily ritual with Quila and the dogs—it was nice to gather together to watch the colors of the western sky at the end of the day and to share the first stars of the night. 

Thanks to the regular communication from the people who are love and care for Tony, Izzie, Linda, and Quila, we feel connected to our babies. Marcia, Juan, and Sherry keep us involved with Tony, Izzie, Linda, and Quila by sharing photos and stories about funny things that these animals do in their current lives. It’s comforting to us that our much-loved pets are fully integrated into the rhythms of their current families.