A Max or a Lily

                                  "The risk of love is loss and the price of loss is grief.  But the
                                   pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of 
                                   never risking love." - Hilary Stanton Zunin


I sat on the sofa this morning and watched our dog, Jack.  He's twelve years old.  Some of you may remember when we rescued him at the age of four.

He's a good dog- an excellent dog.  But, I'm not sure how much longer we will have him.  He's in pain and his back legs don't really work any longer.

It'll be a sad day.

This weekend, someone, somewhere, will be saying goodbye to their dog.  It may be a boy dog, with the name Max.  Long ago I learned my son Max has the number one dog name. Still makes me smile.                   

It may be a magnificent girl dog with the name Lily.  She may have brought years of happiness to her children and her adults.  She's wonderfully sweet and brave and doing the best she can to be the dog the family needs. But she's just tired.

If I could whisper in her ear I'd tell her, "You are so very loved, Lily.  Go now and rest easy.  You've been a grand lady, Lily."

So, as I watch my dog Jack and ponder the day I'll have to say goodbye, I'm so sorry for and thinking of the family saying goodbye to a Max or a Lily.

I'm thinking of you.