There comes a time, I suppose in everyone's life, when we must part with a special friend. Not a Father, Mother, Sister or Brother, but a special friend. To a soldier, it may be his buddy, who you know without question, would lay down his life for you, and you for him. This is a special kind of friendship God has given us. There can be no value placed on it. And you know it is unique.

And for a very special few, that friend has four paws. My special friend's name was Pooh. I gave him that name when he was just a pup, after the cartoon bear, "Winnie the Pooh". He reminded me of the cartoon, always stumbling over his own feet. But he soon grew out of the puppy stage. And a strange bond developed between us. It got so that when he wimpered way down his throat to get my attention, I could look into those deep little brown eyes,and tell exactly what he wanted. Which was usually, "I wanna Play, My water dish is empty, Go ByBy or I'm cold". He never met a stranger. For all the years of his short life, he brought smiles to faces and laughter to hearts.

     Pooh was Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, and had the Chi characteristic of "Freezing" at 60 deg. I would give him an old coat to burrow into and he was fine. He loved to go "ByBy". It gave him a great thrill to just go somewhere. If the weather was cold, he would get inside my coat until the old truck warmed up. And he loved to Rabbit hunt. This was done in an unusual fashion. Whenever I started somewhere down the gravel road, he had his feet on the dash, watching the road ahead. If a cottontail hopped across the road, Pooh would explode, wanting out of the truck. Now let me assure you, no cottontail was ever in any danger. But Pooh had the time of his life chasing them. After a couple of minutes, I would call "Come on, let's go", and here we would go again. The intensity of his face when this happened was something to see. Once we reached the blacktop, he quit hunting and would ride with his head in my lap.

When Pooh was just a pup, my daughter, Charlie, gave him a little stuffed teddybear. In no time, he would go fetch his bear and bring it to us to throw it for him. His little game of fetch. He took pretty good care of his bear. He still had it when he died. The nose and button eyes were gone, but otherwise intact. I bought him a new one once, but he would have nothing to do with it. If I was working on the computer, he would get his bear, lay asleep with his chin on my foot. His bear beside him. If another dog was around, Pooh was friendly and wanted to play, Unless, the other dog got too close to his bear! Then it was war.

      Pooh got sick April 1, 1999. He didn't want to play and wouldn't eat. I thought he would be better the next day. But the next day was about the same. I thought he had just eat something that disagreed with him. That night he got worse and I knew something was wrong. By morning, I was waiting for the Vet office to open so I could carry him in. I didn't know what was wrong with him, but I assumed whatever it was, he would soon get over it. They did some test on him and then Dr. Hampe came into the exam room. He told me that Pooh probably had Parvo and that he was dehydraded and going into shock. I could hardly believe it. I thought Parvo was something that killed little puppies. Dr. Hampe said he would start an IV in Pooh and they would do what they could. As Dr. Hampe started to pick him up, Pooh raised his head and look directly into my eyes. "I'm dying, goodby", his little eyes said. A cold icy hand closed around my heart. I knew as sure as I know there is a God, I had read his thoughts. Those little brown eyes, so filled with pain, will haunt me the rest of my life. If I had only brought him in the day before, everything might have been different. Pooh died the night of April 3rd. 1999. Charlie and I buried him Sunday morning. I wrapped him in an old fleece lined jacket of mine that he liked, placed his bear beside him.

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 of 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.
His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers.
Suddenly he begins to run from the group,
flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him 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;
your hands again caress the beloved head,
and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet,
so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

---

CodeMaster

Proud Memeber

Send e-mail to codemaster@htcomp.net

---

Copyright © 1999 wwCodeWorks.
Produced with Webford 2.01.