I just got home from calling hours. I had trouble finding a parking space and then waited an hour and a half in line just to view the casket. You cannot believe how many people were there and they were still coming. More men than women were crying w/o embarrassment. This man was loved!

There were so many photos of him w/his wife, Joan, and family and grandkids, whom he absolutely adored. One photo in particular made me get choked up; it was of him asleep w/his tiny baby grandchild asleep on his chest. Another was of him reading "Goodnight Moon" to his grandchild. He loved the outdoors, was always tan, and I'd tease him and ask "Do you ever work, tan guy, or do you just play all day?" He had a good life; it was just cut short, too damned short.

I told his kids the story of how he became my vet, that my dog Charmin had her two pups Caesarean and he spent the night at the clinic w/her. The next day when I went in to see her, he looked bedraggled and told me that she was going to be ok. I told him right then and there "You've sealed the deal, buddy. You're my vet forever!" His son and daughter laughed when I told them that. I know how comforting it is to hear such stories, especially from people you don't know, when you've lost a loved one. It does the heart good to hear how loved your dear one was.

I'm sorry to go on like this but I feel as though I've lost a family member. His hair was styled funny and it didn't even look like him. He looked like a little old man and in life he was so vital and healthy looking. Joan said (w/o my asking) that he was in their garage on a 12 ft. ladder and fell. She was in the shower and didn't hear it happen. Thankfully, he went quickly. He had a brain stem injury and the dr. told the family that he had no chance whatsoever for a good life, so Joan waited until all the kids came home so that they could see him before they removed life support. They were to leave on Monday for Myrtle Beach for two weeks w/the family. So unfair.