I am with you

Look not where I was
For I am not there
My spirit is free
I am everywhere.
In the air that you breathe
In the sounds that you hear
Don't cry for me, Mom ~
My spirit is near.
I'll watch for you
From the other side
I'll be the one running
New friends by my side.
Smile at my memory
Remember in your heart
This isn't the end
It's a brand new start!
~ Carol Kufner

In Your Honor

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like Mother of Pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.
"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open.
"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. "Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there". The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."
"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump."
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them. "What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," he answered.
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"
"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."

I do not know the author, but to whoever it was, GREAT STORY!

Dog

When God had made the earth and sky,
The flowers and the trees.
He then made all the animals,
The fish, the birds and bees.
And when at last He'd finished,
Not one was quite the same.
He said, "I'll walk this world of mine,
And give each one a name."
And so He traveled far and wide
And everywhere He went,
A little creature followed Him
Until its strength was spent.
When all were named upon the earth
And in the sky and sea,
The little creature said, "Dear Lord,
There's not one left for me."
Kindly the Father said to him,
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front
And called you dog, my friend."

-Author Unknown-

A Very Sad Day - March 14, 2006

He was old, deaf, mostly blind and the love of my life. My baby, so to speak. Black and tan and graying in color, he was as shaggy as a dust mop, had an under-bite that could have kept an orthodontist busy for years and was definitely showing his age, almost seventeen years of it. I never seemed to notice he was old, to me he was always the beautiful puppy that I found on the street in Cordova, Tennessee in 1989. “Jingles” was his name and he never met anyone he didn’t like, he was the kind of dog you wish for when you get a puppy. He’s been gone for over year now and I still miss him terribly.

Jingles was a happy dog and brought joy to our family for seventeen years. Until he became deaf at about age fourteen, he would sit at your feet, listen to what you were saying and try to talk to you. Sure would have been great if we could have understood "Dog", but alas, we only spoke English. Then on the evening of March 6, 2006 after just returning from a family car trip, which he loved, my husband noticed that he was in pain, not that Jingles would have complained, but you could just tell. On the morning of March 7, 2006 we were at our vets office to try to determine the problem. After x-rays, an enlarged prostate was diagnosed and our options were explained. Neutering him was the only possible solution to recovering from prostate disease; they would need to do some testing to make sure that he was a candidate for surgery. Sadly, he was not a candidate, due to a heart condition found during the testing and on March 14, 2006 we had to make the decision no pet lover wants to make, Jingles would have to be euthanized, we could not save him and he was just too sick to continue his life here on earth. Be waiting for me, my sweet Jingle Bells.

March 17, 2006 we received a very sweet card signed by our vet and the entire staff at her office offering condolences on the loss of Jingles. We will always remember and miss him.