It's my Woofday!!

Hello every pup!!

It's my birfday and we're having a pawty at the Bridge!! I hope I get lotsa presents! *giggle*

Feel free to sign my guest book if you like! :-)

Barks and Kisses from the Bridge!
Princess

Thank you!!/Sign my guest book!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to my pals that dropped by my pawty and signed my guest book, left presents, sent emails, replied to my thread in the community! You guys are pawsome!!

If you still haven't signed my guest book, come on over and put your pawprint on my page! I love to show off all of my cute pup pals! (My sissy Aisha has one too if you haven't signed it!)

Thanks again guys!
You rock!
Princess

It's my birthday! PAWTY AT MY PAGE!!!

Sure, I may be the old girl of the family but that doesn't mean I don't like to pawty on my birfday! All the bridge kids are getting together for a great one up here but my mommy set one up on my page too hoping my Dogster pals would stop by!

I've got a guestbook now and would love for you to sign it! There's even a little boogie music to get down too! WOO HOO!

So don't forget the old ladies...I may have been born in 1978 but I still know how to pawty!!

Barks and Kisses!
Princess

16 Years at the Rainbow Bridge

Today is the day I had to leave my family 16 years ago. The day my sissy/mommy's heart broke so badly for the first time. I remember when I was dying and on the way to the vets as I was having my seizure. I looked up into mommy's eyes and I could see she was so scared for me but was trying to comfort me through her tears. She was only 17 but thank God the neighbor drove her so she could hold me. I was scared too.

When they took me away and told mommy my time was up, I hung on long enough to see her again and put my little paw on hers and lick her hand goodbye. The next few days as she cried more than she knew she could, I stayed with her. She saw me but thought her mind was playing tricks on her, it wasn't. It was me, Mom. I knew the new man in your life would take care of you now and it was time for me to go. I know it broke your heart to think of me sometimes because it took you back to this awful day all those years ago. I don't blame you for that and I forgive you as you asked even though there's nothing to forgive. I had a good life and because of me, you took in another pup that you loved just as much. I watched her play and run and love. I laughed at the challenges she presented because let's face it, she was funny and stubborn and smarter than she should've been allowed to be.

And I was there when you made the hardest decision ever, just like you had to do with me. I laid beside you and comforted you between the tears and heartbreak you knew would one day come. And as your 2nd baby came to the Bridge, I gladly welcomed a sister who keeps me company and plays and runs and loves and is still smarter than she should be allowed to be. I'm showing her the ropes. I'm taking care of her. I'm loving her and WE are loving you from afar.

We feel your tears for us and know you love us and we know one day we'll all be together again. But until then, know that the love you gave me while I was on Earth has lasted more than a lifetime. It comforts, protects and warms me every day I wake up here at the Bridge.

I love you Mom,
Princess

16 Years at the Rainbow Bridge

Today is the day I had to leave my family 16 years ago. The day my sissy/mommy's heart broke so badly for the first time. I remember when I was dying and on the way to the vets as I was having my seizure. I looked up into mommy's eyes and I could see she was so scared for me but was trying to comfort me through her tears. She was only 17 but thank God the neighbor drove her so she could hold me. I was scared too.

When they took me away and told mommy my time was up, I hung on long enough to see her again and put my little paw on hers and lick her hand goodbye. The next few days as she cried more than she knew she could, I stayed with her. She saw me but thought her mind was playing tricks on her, it wasn't. It was me, Mom. I knew the new man in your life would take care of you now and it was time for me to go. I know it broke your heart to think of me sometimes because it took you back to this awful day all those years ago. I don't blame you for that and I forgive you as you asked even though there's nothing to forgive. I had a good life and because of me, you took in another pup that you loved just as much. I watched her play and run and love. I laughed at the challenges she presented because let's face it, she was funny and stubborn and smarter than she should've been allowed to be.

And I was there when you made the hardest decision ever, just like you had to do with me. I laid beside you and comforted you between the tears and heartbreak you knew would one day come. And as your 2nd baby came to the Bridge, I gladly welcomed a sister who keeps me company and plays and runs and loves and is still smarter than she should be allowed to be. I'm showing her the ropes. I'm taking care of her. I'm loving her and WE are loving you from afar.

We feel your tears for us and know you love us and we know one day we'll all be together again. But until then, know that the love you gave me while I was on Earth has lasted more than a lifetime. It comforts, protects and warms me every day I wake up here at the Bridge.

I love you Mom,
Princess

New pics!

Okay so they're not new but my mommy was going through some pictures over the weekend and found some pictures of me. She was so happy because she felt bad there aren't as many pictures of me as she'd like.

Some of them are bad because it was before digital and she was trying to hold me or put a hat on me and hold the camera at the same time. So overlook those. But she did find 2 from her senior pics. I passed away less than a year later so mommy was really glad she had those taken.

Hope you enjoy them!
Princess

Psst...

Just wanted to wish all of my Dogster pals old and new, Alive and Well and Bridge Kids a Happy New Year! Here's to a great 2008!

Woof!
Princess

I got a new sister for Christmas!

It's been a long 15 years up here away from my sissy. I don't really get sad but I miss being with her. She was a good sissy. Well, she was kinda like my sissy and mommy, I was her dog. I knew when she met her future husband her senior year in high school that he was a good guy and it would be okay for me to go to The Bridge. It was hard to go but I've been able to watch over them all these years. I was happy when they got Aisha because she was such a good sissy/mommy to me that another dog should get that lovin' too. I contiued to watch over them and now included Aisha in my family and watched over her too. She had some health issues here and there in her life but I made sure she came through okay. When she got older, Sissy and her husband had to make the decision to let her go because they didn't want her to suffer like I did when my time came.

When Aisha closed her little eyes on Earth, she opened them here at The Bridge and I was waiting for her with a big puppy kiss. She instantly knew I was her sister and we rolled around on the ground in glee because Aisha felt like a new pup just like I did when I got here! Her legs were straight, her head didn't hurt, her hips didn't hurt and she felt like a spry pup of 3! She knew that her job was now to keep watch over her mommy and daddy from here now and when she looked down on them, she could see her old body laying on the table at the vet and her mommy and daddy crying over her. I knew we only had a little time for me to teach her a new trick to let them know she was okay. Butterflies, especially white ones are an easy gift we can send to our loved ones on Earth to let them know we're still around. White feathers work too. It's the first trick we learn when we get here and as we master it, we learn new ways to send our love and let our loved ones know we're not really gone.

As they drove with her old body wrapped up in a towel crying, Aisha practiced and by the time they got to the cemetery, she had it down pat. As her old body was being buried, she sent a black and white butterfly over her grave for her mommy to see. Wow, she caught on quick!! She continued to send butterflies, shadows on the fence, sounds of when she was alive like jingling tags, licking her paws and tapping on the floor. She saw her family was in a lot of pain without her but did all she could to comfort them. With the holidays here, it is very hard for them but she continues to send her love as I do and want them to know that she is always with them and wants them to know anytime they think of her, cry for her, smile and laugh for her, it's interpreted all the same here...as a big, warm, enveloping hug that lets us know we are loved and not forgotten.

And now I have a new sister for Christmas that I don't have to watch from afar. We have a great time everyday playing, eating, running, jumping in flowered fields, playing with our friends, sleeping whenever we want all curled up next to each other, we have a HUGE dog house we share now and she gets her space and I get mine but most of the time we're together in the house. We of course miss our human family but a part of us is with them every minute of the day watching over them and keeping them safe. But if we have to be away from them for now, it's great to have a best friend to be with and love and spend the holidays with until we can all be together again one day. So thank you sissy. Thank you for picking such a wonderful sister for me to spend my time with! She's a wonderful Christmas gift for me just as she has always been for you.

Now its time for me to wake her up...she always sleeps so late...sheesh!
Princess

My best childhood friend

I picked Princess out of a litter my Grandma's dog Tiny had when I was four. I think she might have been the only girl. The other pups in her litter were named Skipper, Charlie and Lou...don't ask why I remember that all these years later. She was the best friend I had as a kid. You have your human friends of course but Princess was there for me no matter what. She was there during the good times and to play with and was the first to console me when I was sick or when my parents divorced when I was 8. We'd had some health scares with her like fatty tumors and just general lethargy as she aged.

When she got older, she began having incontinence and because my mom and I lived in a small apartment, we had to put her in the basement during the day when we were away. We had a nice big bed down there for her, left all the lights on for her and her food and water. Looking back I wish I would've thought to put a radio down there or something. One night I came home after work and had brought home a pizza. I thought I'd eat first and then go down and get her so I could just clean up any mess she made during the day. I had the radio on pretty loud (I was 17...that's what I did) and was singing while eating my first piece of pizza. I heard a huge yelp from the basement which was virtually impossible because she just didn't have that kind of yelp in her anymore. I turned the music down and listened and didn't hear anything. I went to the top of the stairs and yelled for her to come on up. Nothing. I started crying and said "Princess, come on up girl"...nothing. My heart sank as I slowly made my way down the stairs. She looked over at me and I tapped my leg and said "come on girl" and she stayed in bed. I walked over and picked her up and she went limp in my hands. She felt like bones. I screamed/cried as I carried her upstairs. My mom was at dinner with a friend of hers and I really had no way to get ahold of her. (This was before everyone had cell phones) I sat her on my lap and she weakly laid there. As I bawled, I got a piece of pepperoni off the pizza, one of her favorite treats. I gave it to her and she hungrily clamped down on it. I noticed she wasn't chewing. I encouraged her to eat it and she still wouldn't chew. I asked her what was wrong and it happened...she went into seizures. I FREAKED OUT. I screamed at the top of my lungs " my baby, my baby!!! Please don't die Princess please don't die!!!!!" I called the restaurant where I thought mom was and she wasn't there. I ran next door to my neighbor Mary screaming "please, please open the door! Help me, help me!" She opened the door and was horrified to see the look on my face as I was clutching my best friend. I told her something was wrong and I thought she was dying. She called a vet and they told her how to get to the ER Vet service about 20 minutes away. She knew I couldn't drive and took me in the car to the ER Vet.

It was the longest, most traumatic 20 minutes of my life. As I held Princess telling her I loved her and begging her not to die, she continued seizing...with the pepperoni in her mouth. I kept trying to get it out because I didn't want her to choke on it but it wouldn't come out. As long as I live, I will never forget the terror in her eyes. I just kept crying, holding and kissing her telling her I loved her. We got to the vet and they took her from me. I remember Mary continuing to try and get ahold of my mom. I think I may have talked to her finally but I'm real fuzzy on some of that stuff. I remember the doctor telling me she could have some surgery for $7500 and there was no guarantee she'd make it through the surgery. Or we could put her to sleep. Of course he said it in a much colder way. The thing I hate about that place is how completely cold they were. No "bedside manner", no compassion. I said I wanted to see her and they wouldn't let me see her until I made a decision. I think Mom may have arrived at that point and said there was just no way we could do the surgery especially if she might not make it. She was 13. We made the decision to put her to sleep but I wanted to see her first. I went in and she was laying on the table on a white towel. There was orange liquid around her mouth and I started crying and they said "she still has the pepperoni in her mouth, she won't let it go so the orange stuff is grease." That's my foodie. She looked over at me with her eyes, unable to move. I cried as I approached her and told her I loved her so much and she was my best friend and I didn't want to let her go. I told her I was so sorry. The tech said she was down to 6 beats per minute. How she was able to move at all I don't know. I pet her and said I love her so much and put my hand in front of her mouth. She licked me, still keeping the pepperoni in her mouth and put her paw on my hand. I screamed not to take her and they said she was basically gone...the last thing she did was say goodbye to me. (They didn't have a problem charging us for the euthanasia solution that they undoubtedly did not use.)

They brought her out in a box and I got in the car with mom and pet her the whole way home, silently crying the whole way. She had called my grandma and asked if we could bury her in her backyard. She let us keep her on the enclosed back porch overnight since it was late. Mike (my then boyfriend befor he later became my husband) and I drove out there. Mike dug the hole while I held her and wrapped her in a sheet so she wouldn't be cold. My grandma stood and cried with me. I handed her to Mike and turned away as Mike gently placed her into her grave and buried her. We put a little cross on there and had her name painted on it.

I promised myself that no dog I owned after her would ever die the way she did if it was something I could help beforehand. She will always be special to me and I wish I had more pictures of her because I look back and only have a few select pics that are good. It's something we made sure we did with our dog after her, Aisha. We have about 250 pictures of her throughout her life and as we near the end of her time with us, we are glad we have them from the very beginning to the very end.

Rest in peace my sweet Princess...play nice with my other baby and show her around. We'll see you again one day.