If Mark is a little scarce for a week or so...

[CaptainStark]

He lost a close friend this week.

His ever-faithful buddy Thor passed away suddenly after what looked like a certain recovery.

I can’t remember who said it but it is a truism: The finest person I ever met was a dog. Anyone who has had that close bond with an animal knows of the amazing relationships people can have with their animals. The term “pet” is too mundane for a being that has become an integral member of the family, as Thor was.

Sorry buddy. I know how you feel. My last kitty died in my arms last month and for the first time in 25 years, I have no kitty to come home to. Oh well, Maggie was a pound rescue and both of our lives were better for the 15 years we shared our homes. At least I know mine was. After a little time to travel without worrying about anyone at home I am sure I’ll seek out another little creature to share my life with. But there will never be another one like her. Or Thor. They just don't live long enough, especially dogs.

Enjoy the good people in your lives because life is fleeting.

Especially those people with tails.

:ray:

[JPenny]

So very sorry, Mark!!! A good dog is irreplaceable.

:grouphug: :grouphug:

Jean

[Barb-SAN]

So sorry, Mark, to hear about Thor. It sounds like he was a great dog, and that you shared many good times together. Surely he will be missed.
Captain Ray, sorry you lost your cat too....but lucky for her that you rescued her from the pound, and you had all those years together.

:grouphug:
Barb-SAN

[cshollingsworth]

i know what you are going through...i lost my most favorite dog ever about 3 years ago and will never forget her. i had gotten her at the cookeville animal shelter. she was half daschaund and half chiuaua (spelling???) and she was so cool...loved to ride in the car and slept at the foot of my bed each night. she wandered off from the farm one day with my mother's beagle and was hit by a car. i found her on the road and cried off and on for days. i still cry when i think about her.

i waited awhile and then purchased another dog, a full daschaund who is cute and silly but no replacement for my original dog who i will forever miss.

i can't say anything that will help you with your loss, other than offer my condolences and a :hug:. think of the good times you had with thor and cherish the memories always.

captain ray...if you read this, i have 3 adoreable kitties at my farm roughly about 7 wks. old. i'm sure one would love to move to arizona with you. :lol:

[tabbygirl]

Mark, I am so sorry to read that you lost Thor and Ray, that you lost your kitty. I'm an animal person, too, and I know it's just about as hard to lose an animal friend as a human one. It's got to be especially crushing when you think they are going to be OK.

There aren't any words to make it better but I understand how it hurts. Please know I'm thinking of you both.

XO

[beeinatree]

I'm sorry about your dog Thor, Mark. And I'm sorry about your cat Maggie, Capt Stark. :sigh:

My bunny is named Magdelene, but I call her Maggie. Actually I call her Maggie-Moo after the ice cream shoppe because she looks like a fat cow.

However, I got her somewhat recently awhile after my very old rabbit, Maya, passed away. It was so heart-breaking to lose her.


Here is a beautiful poem someone sent to me when I lost Maya.




Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

[OnwardandUpward]

Mark my condolences
My own dog has heart disease and has been given 3-4 months

Here is a piece by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
But when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.


Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years that nature permits
Are closing in asthma or tumors or fits
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers, or loaded guns.
Then you will find--its your own affair
But--you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will
When the whimper of welcome is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You still discover how much you care
And will give your heart to a dog to tear. We've sorrow enough in the natural way
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em the more do we grieve;
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

[Jeff California]

Great poem!!!!