There Must Be a Heaven

I'm always surprised just how heavy paw prints are, especially when I find the deep crevasse left in my heart when a furry friend passes away.

Rottrover's Gizmo crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday and my heart is aching and my face hurts from the tearful bouts I've had thinking of him and his family today. How brave he was...how his wagger was wagging until the very end. And even though he was in pain, he had a ready smile and lots of joyful kisses for this friend. He was such a special boy. He is missed sorely.

Our sweet friend Gizmo had the most handsome smile ever!!!

I know that many people have specific ideas of Heaven and what it must be like there. I've had evangelical types tell me that there are no dogs in Heaven.

Mabel and Gizmo

I don't know...no one does; but this much I do know. There must be a mighty special place for the loyalest of friends. Only the rarest of friends in this life have made me feel O.K. about being me... and most of them were dogs. I know that all the truly fine things in this life are things my dogs have taught me to love: a beautiful vista, a cool stream, a walkabout with good friends, a simple meal and a safe place to sleep. These are things I enjoy deeply every day but without my dog, they would seem common or uneventful.

 

Mabel and Gizmo on a rainy hike

My dogs have taught me more about kindness, patience, love, acceptance, forgiveness, joy and parenting than anyone else. They've taught me to laugh, to run with glee and to read minds. Loving a canine has made me a better human.


When I left Gizmo yesterday, I reminded him to tell his big sis Allie hello from me and to please look for my Maggie May and give her one of his special kisses. And last night, I dreamed of those rotten kids playing under a rainbow!

When my time comes, and I find that dogs are not welcome behind Pearly Gates, just be so kind as to give me a map to that Rainbow Bridge.  That's the only Heaven I want to go to. That's where all my friends are.

Gizmo leading the pack on a hike (w/ Ruby, Barticus and Mabel)

Got Toys?

Mabel Lou can always find something to play with:

World Smile Day

Sorry for the double post today but we forgot... it's WORLD SMILE DAY! Who can resist the opportunity to make someone smile???

Here are some of the things that make me smile:

Sunsets in our creek (9-29-11)

Bart always smiles... but he's hard to catch on camera...so those shots are always worth smiling over!

Mabel always smiles in the car... even if we are only running errands. She loves to GO!

Good friends always bring us joy. We "think" this is Ruby. Our second guess is Gizmo! Rottrover???  Either way, our hiking buddies bring us so much joy!!!
{Edited 10/8} Harumph! Well that goes to show you what a good guesser I'm NOT... this is BART!!! 

And finally, our blog buddies bring us lots of smiles all the time! Check out Sugar, Maggie Mae or Dory's Blogs to read along on the World Smile Day blog hop!

High Wire Act

Always something interesting going on in the creek!

Driving Miss Mabel

One night when I was rather frustrated with Mabel and Bart, I cut our walk short and went to visit Tila Boy. I told him of their transgressions and that I had just had it with them.

"No problem, Auntie," said 'Tila. "I'll take care of them."

And with that, he jumped right in the car!

He gave those brats a good talking to!

He took them for a drive. I don't know what he told them...

It didn't seem to me that Miss Mabel was paying any attention. And Bart never got up out of the back.

But the next day, all was well again! Tila Boy, you're my hero!