What a Friend

We had our dog "Jack" put down on Wednesday. He was 12 and his cancer caught up with him. My wife took him in to the vet for a final diagnosis. We both went back to see him and say goodbye. We were there in a room with him and he was awake and responding nicely to us as we pet him and hugged him and talked to him. I never wanted to leave that room. That was a sad day. When we left I told my wife that I was free all day and would hang with her or not as she wished. And that we could go to lunch and "toast" the best friend we had. She wanted to go home and see the rest of her animals and just have a quiet day. So we went home. I was surprised when after she had checked on her animals she asked me if I was still up for going to lunch. I said of course. Another surprise was that she wanted to go to Milford. A town an hour away by the seashore that we had never been to. We had a lovely drive on back roads. A lovely meal in a quaint neighborhood. A lovely drive home. Our three remaining dogs have acted quite differently since Jack has been gone. They know he's not coming back. My dog "Jake" usually hangs out where I am. But now he's staying even closer to me. The other two dogs are being very quiet. The morning after Jack died was tough for my wife. That's when it really hit her that he was gone. We have a very old nanny goat with horns. She is not going to be with us much longer. We already have a grave dug for her in the back pasture I have boards over the hole so no one can fall in. I'm sad about Jack. I may be even more sad about BeeBee, our goat, when we finally lose her. I've learned so much about friendship and love from these animals. I didn't even know what friendship was until my dog "Jake" bonded with me. He is with me now as I type. He's old too and within a year or two we'll be putting him down. That will be hard for me to bear. But I won't want him to suffer. All I know is I'm happy to have Jake now. All he ever knows is "now". I asked my wife how is it that I can love a dog so. She said: "They are so loyal. They don't hold a grudge". Bye Jack. We will miss you. LLITTY :::::+:::::