My Boy Sam 1/10/05

I am new to this site but can see with my few visits what a helpful site it must be for many. It is wonderful to find somewhere that has others that can appreciate the depth of loss the we feel when we lose our pets. I think only others that have gone through the same can comprehend its depth. I will be returning often.
We lost our Sam in January to renal failure at the age of twelve. He was a loving shih tzu. We had another, Trouble who passed at eighteen years. She was deaf and blind at the end so they both got to go EVERYWHERE with us. When she left us Sam profited by spending the next three years with us always. I can't remember a time we left him at home alone. The back of our Jeep was his. We kept him going with the renal disease for eleven months, but the disease always claims its victims in the end. We have had three dogs in 28 years, and for the last 20 had two at a time. Sam was our last and the house has become unbearably empty. I know we did the only thing possible and am happy we made the ultimate decision before he had to suffer. Although he wasn't eating at the end he still was happy and moving on his own when we took him to the vet for the last time. I sometimes question myself about trying just one more thing....but know it would have only given us days and the results would have been the same. I "know" all of the right things, but often feel quite different. It's still hard to think of him or write about him without tearing up. He was a good part of my heart and its hard to live without it. I will survive, however, and hope that in the near future we can get another pup. I tend to fall in love with every one I see with their owners so know I won't have any trouble loving another dog....it won't be Sam, but Sam wasn't Trouble. I guess it works that way.
Thanks for reading and I hope to read many posts and hopefully help in the future. It is a great site. I was so happy when I found K9 Kidney on Yahoo that helped me keep Sam with us for a long while. This is the same wonderful place that is filled with "pet people" like me.
Barbar and Sam 1/10/05

Poem For My Sam

And if I go while you're still here....know that I live on,
Vibrating to a different measure...
behind a veil you cannot see through,
You will not see me
So you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again
both aware of each other,
Until then, live your life to its fullest and
when you need me...
Just whisper my name in your heart...
I will be there

By Tom Clancy