Dear Liz. Rachel and Sammi and Steno and Anna have echoed my sentiments so beautifully. There isn't a day, or a night, that goes by that I don't think of you, Buddy and the deep, deep sense of loss you are feeling. I know you don't want to hear this, nor do I want to burden you with any more distress. But, just the thought of your sweet, beloved Buddy brings tears to my eyes. But, that is as it should be, for being a doggie Mom myself, I really, really, really do feel your pain and your loss is mine as well. It will be 4 years on Sept. 5th (my Star's birthday in fact) that my most beloved of all doggers, Jingles, left this earthly life. And while I love Star and Cody with all of my heart, there will always be one scared corner of my heart and soul in which Jing lives exclusively and eternally. I know exactly of what you speak when you say that friends and family "just don't understand" how a human could feel such love and devotion for a a dog, nor understand the pain we feel at his/her passing. They become impatient after those first few days of crying, at our continuing sadness and grieving. Incredibly, I learned that this feeling of impatience in friends and family following the death of a loved one is not held exclusively for animals. When my mother died, people were very sympathetic and consoling....for a while. But when I was feeling my lowest, when I needed their support the most, after the hulabaloo of the wake and funeral and a short period of "respectable" mourning had passed, when the reality of it all was JUST sinking in, their words to me were...."It's time to move on." My sadness and need to talk made them uncomfortable and left them feeling burdened. Still, I found great solace in a select few, namely those who had true empathy, those who had experienced the same loss that I had experienced. While others sincerely felt badly for me, I realized that it is not until you yourself have gone through such a devastating loss that one can truly say "I know how you feel." That is where we come in. The stalwarts of Pet Talk are animal lovers to the core; people who have an EXTRAordinary sense of connection to their fur children. And we do, we really do know the emptiness you are feeling, the deep emotional void you find yourself in right now. We are here for you to share your feelings, no matter how incomprehensible, how "crazy" they may seem to others. You lost your best friend. There isn't too much greater a sense of loss than that. I know you as a very loving and compassionate person. And in time, you will, I know, be able to open yourself up to another doggie, so needy of your special love. Until then, please remember we care so deeply for you Liz and we are here for you, always. Love, Sandra