New Family Member

This lil' peanut will soon belong to my parents.  Her name is Hailey.  I hope she comes with the yellow collar. 

I have a sneaking suspicion she will be a lot like her older sister, Samantha.  We all miss her.

A Throw Back....

These are my two girls who are no longer with me.  This picture was taken on the day we got Samantha.  Gretchen had been an only dog for about half a year.   Samantha had no problem warming up to Gretchen, but Gretchen kept looking at us with a "I didn't sign off on this" look.   They were the odd couple, but in the end, they were the best of friends - to each other and to me.   I miss them so much!

Rough Day

My 15 year-old puppy Samantha passed yesterday.  She fought until the very end.   She went to join her big sister, Gretchen, who we lost 3 years ago.  I always felt bad because Samantha was in the hospital when we lost Gretchen, so when Sam came home, Gretchen was mysteriously gone.  I feel like she must have always been confused about where she went.  Samantha was very tough - I think the first picture captures that well - she ripped into that Christmas present like it was her job.  In her final days she needed room service - as shown by the second picture.  Poor girl.  She was suffering at the end, but she lived a good life.  We just all have to miss her forever now.

RIP.

RIP

'...a song for a heart so big, god couldn't let it live....'

My dog - Gretchen Grace Sikora - passed this morning.  She was almost 13 years old (11/28/95-11/25/08).   She was a tricolor Collie.  I will miss her terribly - I do already.  I am a dog person (I realize some of you are not and this is just silly to you), however, she was a longtime best friend to me (even though she lived with my parents).  

No one will ever love me quite like this dog did.  No one will ever think I'm as great as she did.  And that's ok.  From here on out, I will try to be the person she thought I was.