by KC Tate
(Milford, OH)
When my husband and I started dating he had been divorced for a while and had a beautiful sable and white sheltie named Max. Max was a great source of comfort and strength for me as I was newly divorced. He was playful and adopted me and all the stray cats that showed up.
In 2007 he started not being himself (he was now almost 12). The vet kept saying they couldn't find anything wrong. He stopped eating and when we came home one evening, he was laying in the back yard and looked at us as if to say... you're home. My husband and I rushed him to an emergency vet center, but by the time we got him there he was shutting down.
I held him and told him that he was loved and he shut his eyes and was gone. As the staff noted his time of death.. I noticed that on that same day 9 years earlier, my dad had slipped away also. Though they never knew each other, I'm sure they are keeping each other company along with my mom and the cats... Sabo, Grouch, Boo, Oreo....
Some day we will see each other at the Rainbow Bridge.