Dear Casey Crawford,

Not a day goes by that I don't look for your smilin face and sweet bark. It's been just over a month since you went to that great agility field across the rainbow bridge. So young, you had to leave us so early - just shy of your 10th birthday old boy - Mom's millinum baby - you went through so much. You where our first beautiful sheltie boy. So loving patient and kind. You were one of a kind - and everyone just loved you. You introduced me to the sport of agility, showed me how your love of everyone took us to doing Therapy dog visits. You light the way for us to love more shelties - and LIbby, Cole and Winston miss you so much as well. Those 3 dogs seemed so lost for that first month , and your daddy and I cried and cried for you. Casey I love you so much, and I wish you could be here with me with all of us but I know we will again be together, running agility, laughing, playing ball, floating in the water and loving each other as we always have. You taught me so much, and there will never be another like you - be good, and stay sweet and we will again be together- you are now in a special place where you don't hurt, or suffer you just love. We love you Casey - I hope you knew that, I will never ever forget your handsome face, your sweet loving ways and your sheltie kisses - stay safe and warm and loved - and remember to share your ball! kisses and hugs your Mamma, Daddy and your sister Libby and brothers Cole and Winston :)

Love,

crawmac

Dear Shiva,

You were the light of my life,the love of my soul and are eternally with me.

Coming from the shelter so many years ago we both embarked on a journey unlike any other I have ever known.

My sweet gentle soul, you made a difference so huge in the life of all humans that you met and the other animals around you. Without your presence and all of the wounds that you carried I would have never begun the path of animal healing- thank you for teaching me the patience and the perseverance that it takes to heal from abuse.

Enjoying life took on a new meaning when I saw you blossom .

You noble one, you wiggly butt, you sweetie boy, I see you dance in heaven !

Love,

Ute

Dear Katie,

It's been 20 weeks without you now. Oh sweetheart I miss you still. Sometimes I see your pictures and wish I could jump in. You were my teacher, my daughter, my friend and my protector. I wrote this poem shortly after you passed from my life.

I listen for the pitter patter of your little paws, but they're not there,I look in vain for the furry shadow that used to follow me everywhere.

I miss the belly rubs and even the walks in the cold.

I miss your big brown eyes that spoke to my soul.

I miss your goofy smile and your soft furry ears.

I miss the sound of you drinking from your water bowl.

The spot where you slept sits empty, forlorn.

Just like my heart.

All I have left are the memories and my tears.

Vacuuming your little furballs shoots arrows into my heart knowing there will never be more.

I miss your beg.

I miss sharing my meals with you.

Checking the mail is now a chore without you by my side.

The house is empty and silent and so is my heart.

I know you want me to live for two but how can I?

I don't know where to begin to have a life without you by my side.

It doesn't feel right.

It isn't fair.

I still feel this way sometimes. I still cry sometimes though I know you'd hate to see me sad. Even knowing the end, I'd do it all over again. Your love made me a better person. I still feel you with me. You'll always be in my heart.

Thank you for sending your furry "sister" Wendy to share the next part of my journey.

I love you baby.

Love,

Mom

Dear Mr. Fish,

So sad this morning, to find you so still, still with your 'love bubbles' in your little home. We knew you were fading, your color no longer so brilliantly blue-hued, your fins dragging, your lack of interest in food.

Three years. I think that's a good long time to share with a little blue fighting fish, and I'm glad you hung around with us that long. You taught me so much about emotional resonance, and how even the smallest little fighters are spiritual beings. It was fun to practice yoga with you, and so sweet when you blew little bubbles and made little faces at me when I chanted. You'll always be with me in that space of sound.

It was strange to hold you in my hand as we readied you to rest in the garden next to Rogue. So still.

Thanks for all the bubbles.

Love,

J and T and the crew...

Dear Rusty,

I came to this site knowing there was a beagle there. When I saw Pushkin it was like seeing you again the first time. Your spirit shone through his eyes. I thought I was doing so well...I felt like I'd been punched and couldn't breathe. I miss you baby boy. My Rusty Dusty Dog...my Rusty Bucket. You were not an easy dog but I KNEW you as soon as I saw you. I will ALWAYS miss you. Forever in my heart....

Love,

Mommy

Dear Chester Pierre "Cheddie",

Mommy loves you and misses you so much. There has not been one day that has past since the day you left me that I have not thought about you. I miss you so much. I miss when you tried to get a bark out and you just made that funny grunt sound. I miss that the most. I miss how excited you would get and how you tried to act like you were a big boy. You were my big boy at only ten pounds and I loved every ounce of you. You were my little man , my son that I never had, the love of my life, my everything. And now even after one and half years have gone by I still can't seem to admit that you are not just gone and will be coming home that you have moved on into the arms of the Man that had created you and put you on this earth for me to eventually find you and to rescue you from having to live a miserable life outside in the freezing cold with no one to keep you warm or no one to hug you and to tell you how much you are loved. I still can't imagine how horrible it had to of been that winter while you tried to keep warm all by yourself in that cold dark chicken house with very little to eat. I don't think I will ever be able to understand how horrible it had to of been for you to of slept out side in the freezing cold or how you even made it when I knew how cold you would get just going outside to go potty in the winter. I promised you that you would never be cold again when you came to live with me and I made you a toasty warm snow suit and kept you covered up at night next to me so you would stay snuggley warm and never be cold again.

I would have given you more if you could of only stayed here longer with me. I loved you more than my life itself and I still love you little guy. I loved your sneaky way that you would do things to me to tease me and I told you that you were a little monster when you would run away from me and almost cause me to have heart failure running after you in an attempt to catch you. The whole time that you were running from me I saw you smiling as you turned your little head to see if I was still chasing you.

I did everything in my power to make sure that you had the best food and the warmest bed and I did this because I had to protect you from those things that would have hurt you if I had just left you to go out on your own. I was so scared of loosing you for all the years I had you I never was able to relax and just live ...I was always afraid of what I would ever have done without you and how would I ever be able to go on without your sweet little smile to see on that little face of yours every day.

Cheddie... Mommas so sorry I wasn't able to keep you here longer and I hope and pray that you know how much I love you and that I didn't keep you here to make you suffer. I thought that I would be able to help you to get better because of all the information I had read of the different cases and how the little dogs were healed. I am angry with those people that wrote those books on natural healing because they made me think that your heart problem was a simple thing to fix and everything would be alright.

Thank you so much for all of your self that you gave to me and for helping me get through the tough times in my life. Cheddie I love you so much and I miss you more than I can ever explain to you. Mommy loves you my little man. Thank you for the last kissy you gave me that last day. Thanks for sharing your life with me. I hope you had a good time here.

Love,

Momma

Dear Mina,

It's two weeks today since our last full day together. I wake up every morning thinking about you and hoping, hoping to see you when I walk out into the living room.

We had a glorious last day together, didn't we? I was thrilled to see you standing at the window, ready to take a walk in the sunshine and cool morning air. It was a typical walk, except for its length. You surprised me by walking all the way to the front of the property and all the way around, sniffing everything along the way and looking up at me from time to time.

I love that look when we're walking. You're checking on me, making sure I'm OK if I'm too quiet. The love in your eyes always prompts me to bend down and kiss your head.

You're in heaven, I know that, and you're happy and safe and warm and well fed and you have friends - no doubt you've made a lot of friends - and loved. Do you know how much I love you? I worry about that a lot. One can make a lot of stupid mistakes in 13 years and I made a lot with you. I left you behind on a couple of vacations and overnight trips and sometimes I didn't get home very early. I'm so sorry for every time I ever hurt your feelings - I didn't mean it. Please know, Mina baby, that I love you more than anyone ever and I tried to show it every day. You are my one true love and you will always be ...

I went to the sanctuary yesterday for the first time in a month and I cried as soon as I turned up the long drive. I remembered talking to you on the warm August day and telling you about all the wonderful animals you'd see and the nice people you'd meet. It makes me smile to think of you walking away from the tame geese who were so curious about you, and how you barked at the cows as they all walked up to the fence to get a look at you. I didn't stay for the entire event because I was missing you and wanted to come home to you.

Whenever I'm away I still have this urge to get home to you. Wherever I am this feeling that I have to get home is always there. You were always, always my first priority, even when I screwed up.

Thank you, thank you my dearest love, for taking such good care of me for your entire life. You licked away my tears, you acted the fool to get me to cheer up, you laid by my side whenever I was sick, and you never once let me down in any way. Not even when you ate something off the ground that made you sick!

I miss you, Mina Bean. I miss you more than I ever thought possible. I know that time will pass and I'll go on with this life in some fashion. And I know that some day I'll die, too, and we'll be together forever. Don't worry about me, sweetie, I'll figure this out.

You are in my heart and you will always be in my heart, baby girl.

All my love ...

Love,

Mommy

Dear Dottie Ruth Clement,

It's been ten days since we had to make that horrible decision to let you go because you were in pain and gasping for breath. You were so very special to us because you were the kitty that my brother Dan "borrowed" from the shelter to keep our mom, who was receiving hospice care, company during her last days. She had colon cancer which had spread to her liver, lungs, and brain - and I think it's very ironic that the kitty who spent many hours on her hospital bed was gasping for air at the end, just like mom. You both had fluid in the lungs. Dan said the first thought that came to his mind was that Mom wanted Dottie Ruth with her (mom's name was Ruth). I like to remember all the little quirks you had - you were very unique and unlike any cat I've ever had. My husband Jerry loved you as much as I did, it was apparent to me. After mom passed I drove mom's car from Tucson to Washington State where we live, and you were an awesome little traveler. You meowed for a little while, and then you were curious, sometimes sitting on my lap or moving around the car on the piles of stuff I was bringing back with me. Then you'd go back into your carrier and sleep for a while. You were a petite little girl, very thin despite your hearty appetite. You loved to lick nostrils and drink water from the tap in the bathroom. We had our ritual every morning after you laid on me all night long - you'd follow me into the bathroom and I'd turn on the water for you. Then you'd hang out with me while I got ready for work every day. Oh how I miss that. What I wouldn't give to have you back again. And your meow - you had such a distinctive way of meowing, unlike any I've heard before. And when we had a food that you liked, you practically jumped on the plate while meowing that funny meow of yours. Jerry became upset with me because I wanted to hang on to you, but he couldn't bear to see you suffer, and neither could I. My way of coping was to buy a book called "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" by Gary Kurz because I wanted so desperately to know that I'd see you again. This book supports the notion that I will, and it is Bible based. I hang on to that. Dottie, I really, really hope that you are in a place where you are happy, whole, loved, and with Mom! No more suffering for you. We only had you for about fourteen months, but I became so attached to you in that time I felt like I'd had you my whole life. You were such a comfort to me, Dan and Kevin when we lost mom. I think I became even closer to you because you lived in our bedroom all the time, with your own food, water and litter box, because you didn't like the other cats in our house. You were OK with the dog??? but not the other cats! What's up with that? But you were such a "people cat". I am so grateful to Rhonda from the shelter, who loaned us Dottie Ruth to spend mom's last days with her. Naturally, I couldn't let her go back to the shelter because she meant so much to all of us. Even though she was with us such a short time I am very glad that she was in our lives. She gave us so much love, and beautiful memories. Dottie Ruth, you will never be forgotten. Our family's love will always be with you, wherever you are. Rest in peace and love, Dottie. Mommy and Daddy miss and love you always.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy & Brothers

Dear Chai,

My sweet little angel that was sent to me twelve years ago from Japan. I had know idea when I was asked to foster you, until we could found you a home, that it was I who needed rescuing. Chai, my fiesty, shiba-inu who traveled a fourteen hour flight to Los Amgeles... to come into my life. You were my little guardian angel who protected and cared for me through all of lifes challenges. You healed my broken hearts, made me laugh , you made me cry, and you never left my side especally if I was sick,sad or scared . I always felt safe knowing that you would be home waiting for me and your goofy smile... made my heart dance. We had each other and we didn't need anyone else. Words can not describe how grateful I am for all of the flourishing love, protection and commitment you gave to me for so many years.

I know the last six months was extremely painful and uncomfortable because your body was old and in pain. I also know that you stayed as long as you possibly could for me...Thank you. I'm sorry that you were uncofortable and in pain and kept hanging on just to make sure I would be alright. I tried as much as I could to ease your suffering and I'm sorry I didn't know there was a tumor.

I am sad and miss you soooooo very much, but please know that you are in my heart, and soul everyday.You were my friend, my little boy, my companion and my souls keeper. I will love you for as long as I live and I hope you come rushing to greet me one day when it's my time to pass on., I can't wait to be greeted by your stinky breath, wet kisses ,and your beautiful big smile. and I will soak you up like the sun and I will never let you go.

'

My sweet Chai- Chai I want you to run in the grass, roll in the sand, play with Woo, Max,Chester and Razzle. Eat as much chicken, steak and lamb bones your little heart desires.

You truly were a gift from God and I'm the luckiest woman to have been chosen to be your human..

Missing You,

Mom

Dear Leda,

You were my little gray angel, the light in my life, and even until your last days at 18 1/2, all the world was your playground. Among your sisters, you were always the one to have fun.

You slept with me every night, greeted me at the door everyday, with your kitty smile, and sat on the bathroom counter every morning while I got ready. You followed me everywhere. You were a joyful spirit.

The vet and the techs did their best, but you were ready to go. Your dad and I miss you with all our hearts, but you are now with Amalthea, Miranda, Chiva, and Sancho, and your other sisters, Ariel and Molly are here with us.

Love,

Denise, Your Mom