A Tribute to My Dogs

Once upon a time in a land not-so far away. There lived a young girl with her mother and brother. It was a very exciting time for them because the mother was buying a house and for the first time, they would own their own home.
About two weeks before they moved the aunt brough a small fuzzy bundle to the brother.

She was sweet and kind and beautiful and a little ball of mostly black fuzz. She had just a wee bit of mischief in her and a soft, kind heart. So much so that on her little nest of our unmatched socks she scared herself with her first bark.

The following weekend another small black fuzzy bundle arrived. A brother to the first he was protective and caring and loving.

Our family was complete and we named them Hero and Bandit and they soon grew into their names. Hero was our protector and would have protected us from all wrongs if it was at all possible. Bandit was our sweet little girl with the "magic" white paw and she stole a chocolate chip cookie from the kitchen table where they were set to cool.

They made the teenage years not as awful as they could have been and while our family suffered some pretty nasty turmoil it was them alone who kept us all together. Our love for them that wouldn't let us all break apart. In the winter of 2004 Bandit got sick. Her kidneys had some kind of problem and she slowly withered away. The vet told us she was living on our loving care alone. On the morning of Valentine's Day 2005, she went outside to the freshly fallen snow that she loved so much and laid down and didn't get up again.

Our beloved girl was gone and our poor Hero lived on. It was difficult but we got past it. Then in the spring of 2008 we found a lump on our Hero's leg. We took him to the vet but she said the surgery would be hard on him with his heart murmur and his age. Without the surgery we couldn't know for sure what the tumor was and how bad it would be but we knew that it would spread and that his time was limited. We made the difficult decision to let him live his last days peacefully at home.

For awhile he was fine but soon it became apparent that he was fading. Then on September 9, he lay down to nap and passed away. And what do you think was on the Knitter's needles? Rainbow socks. To go with the Rainbow Bridge. And so as she finished the toe of the first, she fashioned an H into the stitches of the toe.

As soon as that toe was kitchenered she knew what she would have to do. She knit the second and put a little B onto the toe.

And so, here they are, the finished rainbow bridge socks for her Hero and Bandit.

I'm just going to go cry quietly now. Thanks for listening to me ramble on.