Mark, love your show along w/the others before and after you! When I listen to you, as well as, the listeners that call in, I can literally cry w/the stories of their beloved pets. I’m one such owner. I had a cocker spaniel named Gazebo, he was my boy for 15.5 yrs. I got him as a pup approx. 1 month after my dad’s sudden death, which also happened 11 days prior to my wedding day. Well, I got Gazebo to replace that void in my heart. I was newly married, just lost my dad, as well as, my best friend. Gazebo was intelligent,loving, and fresh. He knew who Grandma, Uncle Billy, Dad, Aunt Lisa was.. all I had to do is say where’s “Uncle Bill”.. he’d run up and on his lap. Gazebo also went thru a divorce with me, it was a rough time, but my boy was there, he knew my moods and helped me thru some horrific times. He never was kenneled, anytime I could not take him, I had a baby sitter.. in his own home, where he was comfortable. As Gazebo aged, I knew in my heart If the God wouldn’t show him mercy, then I would have to. His last few months were agonizing, he had to wear a diaper, he fell a lot, he had to be picked up and if he fell while I was at work, he had to spend the day on the floor crying. I hired a dog sitter to come in 2 xs a day to check on him. But, it got bad, my heart was breaking and I relived the sadest time in my life all over again, the passing of my dad. I prayed every night for God to take my baby, but ultimately it was ‘our’ decision. Gazebo got to the point where he was not eating or drinking, he looked at me as if to say, it’s time. So, like you, I brought him to the vet, and held him in my arms as he went fast to sleep. It was the 2nd hardest thing in my life to do… I always thought if he died, I would die too. No one in my family understood the bond. I explained it’s the same as a mother to child.. Unless you experience it for yourself, it’s hard to explain. My heart goes out to all that have lost such great companions. I do have 2 cats now, one 13 yr old, who was a stray, and Gazebo welcomed her into our home and the other a 3 1/2 yr old stray, that I got sooner after Gazebo passed. The unconditional love of these animals goes far beyond what words can express.
Thank you for this opprtunity Mark to let my story be told and to join the ranks of many who still hold a torch form their beloved pets…

Lisa from NJ