Thank you, Mark, for all you do to inform and educate your audience night after night. You are a true Patriot! And thank you for giving me the opportunity to write about our beloved puppy.

Heidi. She was a beautiful, blonde golden retriever. We were blest to share our lives with her since she was 5 weeks old. She was born 12 ½ years ago in Utah. Heidi was our daughters’ Christmas puppy. Santa left a note and a map on Christmas morning telling the girls that they had to travel to get their last gift. They were so excited; they thought they were getting a computer! However, their joy was boundless when they saw their beautiful puppy. We all bonded with her immediately. While my Mom came up with the name ‘Heidi’, the girls gave her the middle name, ‘Joy’. And what a joy she was! She was funny, loyal and her love knew no bounds. Everyone remarked at what a sweet dog she was. Families, who said they would never get a dog, got one because of Heidi.

She loved running in the foothills above Salt Lake City. She chased the deer (never caught one!), went after a rattler in the backyard, and saved me from a mountain lion by refusing to walk further down a mountain path because of the animal’s distinctive cry. We moved back to New York when she was five and she had to adjust to a more urban area. But she did well; we walked her in a local State Park and she chased squirrels instead of deer. She acted like a puppy until a few months before she got sick. Making the decision to put her to sleep was agonizing. But true to form, Heidi helped us realize the decision needed to be made. She used her last ounce of strength to go outside for her ‘walk’. She hadn’t been eating well and refused food. She couldn’t get up. We called out daughter at work and told her to come home to say goodbye. We carried her out of the house and put her in the car. It was the first time she ever let us carry her since she was a puppy. She died July 10, 2007. We stayed with her till the end. Our grief was overwhelming. We miss her every day. And while the pain of her loss is still intense, we would never trade in the time we had with her. She was truly a Christmas Gift to all of us.

Helene from NY