I Loved You Best

So this is where we part, My Friend,
and you'll run on, around the bend,
gone from sight, but not from mind,
new pleasures there you'll surely find.

I will go on. I'll find the strength,
life measures quality, not its length.
One long embrace before you leave,
share one last look, before I grieve.

There are others, that much is true,
but they be they, and they aren't you.
And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought,
will remember well all you've taught.

Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,
the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed.
And as you journey to your final rest,
take with you this....I loved you best.

-----Unknown

I just read this today Lil Mel and I thought of you. It's been over a year now, but I still grieve as though it was only yesterday.

Had to say good-bye

My sweet little girl has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. My smiley little golden who owned my heart had to leave me today. Why does God always take the ones you love best?

I love you Melody. You are a super neat girl with lots of love to give, just not enough time to give it all away. You will live forever in my heart. I miss you so much already. I love you Melody.

Blues Clues?

Hi Diary,

Who in the world is Blues Clues? Mom called me that yesterday. Well, like I've said before, IT'S NOT MY FAULT! Uncle Tim brought home two real nice blue pens from his work the other day and we just wanted to look at them. Gid got up on the table and brought them down for us to see. He took off outside with them, even though me and River told him not to. I got the first one away from him and I was about to take it back inside when I realized that it probably wasn't even a pen, but just another chew toy Mom forgot to give us. I sat down in the middle of the yard while Mom WATCHED me chew it up. She's old and can't see things far away anymore, so by the crunching, she thought I had a stick. Then she realized crunched sticks don't make that kind of sound, so she came running over to me and found blue ink all over my front paws. I thought it looked kind of pretty. Apparently she didn't. I got marched right over to the hose and got sprayed off, which on any other day, I don't mind, but didn't Mom notice that it's FREEZING COLD outside? Anyways a little while later, Mom realized that River had the other pen and she chewed it to smithereens and also had blue ink on her paws. I guess it's okay if River does it, cause she didn't get hollered at. She's a goody four paws anyway, she hardly ever does anything wrong. And anyways the fault belongs to Gid because he got them off the table in the first place. Did he get hollered at? NO! And he's the naughtiest dog ever. I just wish Mom could see it.

Later,

--Naughty, I mean Melody

Well, We're going to throw it away anyway!

Hi Diary,

I am in trouble again! Mom got a new couch, but before we could bring it home, we had to take the old one to the dump. Yes, the dump. Doesn't the Dump imply that it's no good and has to go away? So, I just pulled off one of the cushions and tore the stuffing out of it. Well, We're going to throw it away anyway! I thought maybe it would be easier to carry in the truck if it was in little pieces instead of one HUGE piece. I thought Mom would be greatful. She wasn't. She said she was going to put the couch in the 'Trash to Treasure' building, but she doubted anyone would think a ratty cushioned couch could become someone's treasure...oh well.

And, I just now finished chewing off the tongue of Mom's work shoes...she'll be mad, but she took Gideon and not ME to the oil change place. It serves her!

Naughty, I mean Melody.

The Red Tennis Ball is DEAD!

We had to mow the lawn today and now the red Christmas tennis ball is dead. It would have never happened if Mom wouldn't have waited three weeks to mow the lawn. So now it's shredded. She said she walked all over the lawn to find our toys and sticks, but she didn't see the red Christmas tennis ball. She said she told us to take better care of out toys, but I"M NOT going to take the blame for the shredded red Christmas tennis ball!

--Naughty, I mean Melody

Anyways, I just want to play!

Hi Diary,

I got to go to camp yesterday! Mom took me to play with the little kids...I liked them, but I wanted to play with the other dogs. They don't play good like my Gid does. The little girls kept trying to get me to do the agility tricks, but I didn't want to. Mom told the lady in charge that she should have dropped me off at the begining of the week so that I could have maybe learned something. Mom's always silly like that. Then we went for a LONG walk, up and down hills, around and around. At first I was pulling on my leash, my poor girl Skylar was getting tired. Then I figured out it was best for both of us, if I didn't pull and I walked like a nice girl. Then I got treats!

Mom took me to the river then. I liked splashing around in the shallow water, but I got a little scared when I actually had to swim. It started raining so I had water everywhere! I loved it!

I sure wish Mom would update my pictures. I'm a big girl now, almost the same size as River. And, if I do say so myself, really cute!

--Naughty, I mean Melody.

Mud Hen?

Hi Diary,

Yesterday we had a little rain and now Mom calls me 'Mud Hen'. I don't know what a mud hen is, and I don't think Mom does either. Me, Gid and River were just out playin' and then we wanted to come in. Mom said NO WAY! She said she thought she had golden retrievers, but now all of a sudden, there were three mud hens in her yard. Does she not know that we're just kids and we love to play in the mud...we make mud pies, we play like we're little pigs, and everyone knows, mud baths are good for cleansing your pores.

Then she came outside and played like we were going to play in the water from the hose, but instead she was washing off all our good mud. She called me, and I came, because I always do. She sprayed me a little bit and I took off running only to have her call me back for more torture.

--Mud Hen, I mean Melody

No I Didn't!

Hello Diary!

I was just now trying to take a little snooze when I popped up wide awake. Someone had just released the foulest smelling oder I have ever encountered. Well, Mom was sitting right there and so I gave her the stink eye because if she needs to release those oders, she needs to go into the little room. She had the nerve to insist that it was I who had released the noxious oder. NO I DIDN'T

--Melody

Hi Everybody!

Hi Everybody!

This is my first diary entry. Now that I'm six-months old, Mom thinks I can handle the responsibility of a diary.

And anyways, I am NOT always in trouble. I get in trouble because, my best buddy in the whole world, Gid jumps up on the table and steals things. I always take it away from him because I know Mom doesn't want him to have it, but she always walks in when I have the evidence in MY mouth. So, by saving his arse, I get mine in trouble. (I'm going to be in trouble when Mom sees I used the word arse in my first diary entry. She doesn't allow us to cuss.)

I am really a lover. I love my Gid and River too, Oh, I love my Mom so much and I love my Uncle Tim because he plays fetch with me. I'm Mom's only retriever that actually retrieves. Gid doesn't care because he's always looking for ways to get us in trouble, River chases the ball but doesn't bring it back. I always bring it back, even if that means I have to get it back from River, who likes to try and mess me up by taking the ball from me.

I have some real trouble right now because me and River are trying to figure out who's going to be the boss around here. When I was a tiny baby, I was the boss. I got to have all the toys, even the ones they were playing with. I just went and took them and they didn't say anything. Well, now that I'm becoming a big girl, River doesn't let me do that all the time...only sometimes. And NEVER with any of the chew bones. She is MEAN when it comes to chew bones. I can just be laying there nicely enjoying my bone and she comes over and growls at me and puts my whole head in her mouth! Boy, when she gets like that, I just roll over on my back and lay there frozen. I wouldn't move, I'd stay like that for hours if Mom didn't tell me to come over by her. And do you want to know what the worst part is? Mom doesn't even yell at River! She says she's not going to get in the middle of it because we have to work out on our own who's going to be the boss of us dogs. I like being the boss...so does River. I don't know how it's all going to come out. We probably won't know until I'm close to River's size.

I keep telling Mom to put in pictures of me now. I'm not that little runt dog that you see in my pictures. I have real long legs now. My uncle Tim still calls me wattler...I'm not a wattler. I wish he'd stop calling me that!

--Melody