Grief

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This is the story of our dog, Zipper, that we had to "put to sleep" this past weekend. During the time that we had brought Zip into our lives, we also had three other dogs, who each had died in their own time and way, before Zipper on August 1, 2009...
When Zip died, it was almost like the end of an "era" for us, he truly was "The Last Dog Standing"...
And as I write, I can picture in my mind, all the moments when the four were together. The joy and the love, the humor, the sadness, and I know in my heart, even as tears fall freely from my eyes, that God blessed us with the love of these four dogs, and made our lives so much better for having them in it...
Death is never easy to face, whether it be the loss of a family member or a beloved pet. But it is something that we each face as we go through life, and if a poem I wrote for Zip called "Last Dog Standing", helps others, then our moment of sadness, which was inevitable, was worth the love of reaching out and touching others who have gone through the likewise loss...

LAST DOG STANDING

YOU WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR,
AND INTO OUR HEARTS,
THE LAST DOG STANDING...

OH, HOW PRECIOUS,
TIME HOLDS WITHIN YOUR HEARTS
THE MEMORIES OF MOMENTS,
FOR "YOU" CAME TO US
AFRAID AND UNSURE,
AND WE, JUST HAPPY
TO ADD ONE MORE MEMBER,
TO OUR CIRCLE OF LOVE...

"STINKY",
AS WE SO NICKNAMED YOU
THE "FIGHT" HAS BEEN LONG,
AND YOU HAVE FOUGHT
FOR YOUR RIGHT TO BE,
AND EVEN WHEN WALKING
BECAME SUCH A CHORE,
AND WE WOULD HELP YOU
CONQUER STEPS,
THAT MUST HAVE SEEMED
LIKE MOUNTAINS TO BE CLIMBED,
AGAINST UNSURMOUNTABLE ODDS...

AND NOW,
IF IT IS SO PREDESTINED
WE WILL WRAP OUR ARMS
OF LOVE AROUND YOU,
AND TEARS WILL CASCADE FREELY,
DOWN FACES OF LOVE
TO ALLOW YOU FOREVER
TO CROSS OVER,
"THE RAINBOW BRIDGE"...

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