I just finished your book, reading it in one sitting. I found no surprises in it, as my wife and I have been active in Sheltie Rescue for about 9 years. We have four Shelties (3 rescued, one an adoption) and one that left us (Brownie) for the Rainbow Bridge (See below) in 2004.

Losing a dog is one of life’s great pains – but the joy they give us during their all too brief lives more than balances it out.
We, too, planted a tree in Brownie’s memory. It shelters the rest of the “boys” and the occasional foster dog for the group we volunteer for: Northern VA Sheltie Rescue. (www.nvsr.org)

When another dog comes home, it’s not a “replacement.” There is no such thing. It is a new life to cherish until it too dies like a candle flame.

In rescue, one sees the best and the worst qualities of humans. We have seen Shelties come in so desperately ill, for example, that their first vet visit is their last. We have cried over them just as if they had lived with us since puppyhood and cursed those that allowed them to get into such terrible shape. Then we go out and help another, and another. “I can’t save them all, but I can save THIS one.”

We keep going for the love of the breed, and the love of dogs, recalling this poem from http://www.newrainbowbridge.com/NRB/rbpoem.htm

“By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.”

“For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.”

“No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.”

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.”

“For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.”

“The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.”
© 1998 Steve and Diane Bodofsky.

Your Sprite and our Brownie are no doubt playing together and waiting for us.

Gregg from WV