R.I.P. Stinky dog... we will miss you...

I meant to do this blog last week, but couldn't quite get through it then. My wonderful stinky black lab is gone. She was 14 years old and the painful decision had to be made to take her on the last trip to the vet. Her last few days were not her best, but I am grateful that I was here and not already in Washington so that I could be the one to be with her.

The hardest part was that I was alone, but it was also by choice. There were family friends and neighbors who would have stepped in and helped as they could, but I couldn't stand to be around more sympathy.

She was a great dog. She was saved from a bum, who stole her and then traded her for a pizza. Initially, I was only meant to keep her for a night, but she ended up staying with us. She loved to chase birds at the beach and bark at the waves. Even though she was a black lab, she hated the water and especially if her feet didn't touch the bottom.

She couldn't go through a door if her ears touched and her best friend was a kitty named Kwim, who passed a few years ago due to complications with kitty diabetes. Even though I am sad, I know that she and Kwim are together again and happily playing over the Rainbow Bridge. Have you heard that poem? Here it is...

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor: those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent: Her eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; you hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of you pet, so long gone from you life but never absent from you heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author Unknown.

This was inside a card that a lovely neighbor sent to us. It's weird not to have her underfoot and needing me all the time. I will miss my stinky dog.