Tears on earth, stars in heaven

The last few weeks have been tough, especially for friends who have said goodbye to the dogs they loved and watched them depart for Rainbow Bridge.

Maria's two, Mari and Dale's Buddy, and yesterday, one of my students, a puppy named Shadow.

Shadow was a 6 month old rottie pup who suddenly showed signs of neurological disorders and an enlarged heart. He had been to class last Friday. Very smart, loved coming to class, and his mom and dad worked with him a lot to help him learn. They adored him. He was beautiful and loving.

Yesterday they came early to class to talk with me. When I asked where Shadow was they simply said, "He's gone," and broke down as they told me how quickly he deteriorated. They had hoped he would be well enough to come to class, at least to get a photo of him wearing a graduation hat. But early Friday morning he was in such bad shape that they decided he was suffering and that it was time to say goodbye.

They brought me two of his toys to put in the classroom toybox to share with the other dogs. Today I watched as the first dog in class found one of them and picked it up to play with and show his dad. Ironically, it was a black lab named Shadow.

It's so tragic that a beautiful puppy like Shadow had to leave us so soon. I only knew him for a few weeks, but he left his pawprints on my heart.

I trust that my Noir has welcomed him to Rainbow Bridge and is running and playing with him until the day in the distand future when his mom and dad come to walk him over the bridge.