Farewell, my friend

Well, the dreaded moment came today. Clyde has died. I am just taking a moment to let all (if any) of my readers know about it. I was at a church work day today and when I got home I let him out of his kennel. He was not himself, stumbling more than ever and just not acting right. The stumbling has been expected since he has been losing sensation in his back half. Today it was a lot worse and he was actuallly falling over a few times. I saw the writing on the wall that I was going to have to finally take him to the vet for the big sleep. I figured I would do it on Monday or Tuesday.

Well I had to run back to town to get gas for the lawn tractor, and when I got back he was gone. It happened behind the shed. So, I did what I promised him I would do and I buried my dog. I promised him that I would be the one to take care of him whent he time came, and after twelve years there was no way I could let him down. He was the best dog I have ever owned. He was content to just be with me when i was working in the yard or the garage, and he was ALWAYS happy to see me. I know people say all dogs are happy to see their owners, but we have had 4 other dogs beside Clyde and they never looked as happy to see me as Clyde did.

Tammi and the kids took it well all things considered. We knew it was coming just not when. Zach asked me tonight if dogs would go to heaven. I explained to him that dogs did not have souls and therefore could not just go to heaven on their own since they can't make a decision to trust Christ. Then, and I know this is not something that can be backed up by scripture, I told him that it is my opinion that when a person gets to heaven they can have their dog back if they want it. God made dogs and made them so loyal that I just have a hard time believing that you can't have a dog when you get there.

I know, I know I am a wack job! That may very well be, and I might not believe that as much as I made my son think I do, but I will seriously consider kicking the hindparts of anyone who tries to tell my son he will never see our big yellow doofus again.

Well, I was just using the opportunity to grieve a bit and to let people know that Clyde has moved on. I will try to post a pic of the big fella next time - then you can see why he just has to go to heaven!