Even with all the momentous events in the world, it’s still the things that happen very close to us that matter the most.  Yesterday, I had to say good-bye to my first and eldest dog, who’d been my best buddy for over fifteen years.  One day he was fine and the next, his body was failing him with no hope of recovery.  I made the tearful call that his time had come shortly after 1PM yesterday when it was obvious he was in pain and spent the rest of the afternoon holding him tight until it was time to go to the vet clinic.  There, I held him for the entire process, until the vet confirmed that he was gone.  Some days life sucks.  But as a wise man once said, we should not mourn their passing but thank God that they lived.  I’ll never see my little buddy again, except in my dreams, but I’ll always be glad that I was with him until his valiant little heart stopped beating.  He’ll garner a cameo in one of my upcoming books, just as his sister, who passed away last March, did in The Path of Duty and that’ll give him as much immortality as I can manage.

Spip the Yorkshire Terrier – born 21 April 2000, died 25 November 2015.

He was a good dog.