Thank you! Thank you all for the kind words - it is heartwarming to see that so many of you took the time to post such lovely comments about my little man. I'll treasure your words forever.

Yesterday the sun finally made an appearance, and lifted my spirits a little. It was a clear, crisp, cool Autumn day - the kind of day and weather we had been hoping for, and that would be beneficial to Sparky's health. CHF patients don't do well in the warm and humid weather, even when there is a.c. available like we had. Sparky would have loved yesterday - to be able to get outside and go for walks around the yard again. I was going to put his collar in my jacket pocket and go for that walk anyway, but just couldn't bring myself to do it yet.

His health had been declining since late May, tho he was mostly stable thru the summer. He started downhill just a few weeks ago again, and it was just up and down, back and forth, between fairly good, kinda crappy, and downright lousy. Ironically, on Monday he was doing pretty good - his appetite was great and he was more "himself" than he had been in a week. It must have been his last hurrah, because in a matter of hours, he was gone. It may sound somewhat selfish of me, but I'm glad that he passed here at home, in "his" (my) bed, with me and Myndi with him, and that I didn't have to make the choice to help him move on and then always wonder - was it too soon, or not soon enough - all of the "what if's" that go along with it. CHF always wins in the end tho - it never is cured or reversed - only stabilized/managed for a short while before it claims it's victims.

It's still doesn't seem real that Sparky is no longer here, and I miss the little everyday things the most. How he shared my cereal each morning, and my yogurt every night, his crazy antics at bedtime as he made his nest in "our" bed in the sheets and blankets (and even got himself totally tangled up sometimes), how he was a major bed-hog, listening to him talking in his sleep and wondering what he was dreaming about, laying by my chair in the dining room at dinner time and waiting for a sample of what was on my plate - all the little things that made him unique and so special to me.

Yes - he was a joy and a dandy indeed. There will never be another quite like Sparky! Miss you so much, my little man.


I think we will take that walk now....................