10/22/13 - My Sweet Boots, Yet another year has passed since you crossed the Bridge. I think of you often and still miss your sweet face and cuddling with you on my lap after a stressful day. Hope you've helped Lady get settled in at the Bridge as she helped watch over you when you were so sick. Robert has sent his wishes on each of your anniversaries so I hope you have had the chance to meet Sable and his other furbabies who are also residents at the Bridge. The weather has turned cool which really stirs up memories of you as it was your favorite time of year. The squirrels miss teasing you and you would have loved chasing the rabbit that comes to visit often. Please put in a good word for me with the Man in Charge so that I may soon have another furbaby to share my home and love with. Happy Belated 25th birthday, my little girl. Love you, Mom

10/22/12 - My dear Bootsie, Can't believe you've been over the bridge for 7 years. Where does the time go? Hope you're enjoying your reunion with your "sister" Lady and showing her all around the place and introducing her to new friends. Please know I still miss you but cherish the long life you shared with me and the unconditional love you gave me. You were truly a gift from God. Happy belated 24th birthday, my friend! Hugs and kisses to you and Lady. Don't eat too much cake! Love, Mom

10/5/12 - Dear Boots, By now you should have been reunited with your friend and mine, Lady. Unfortunately she lost her battle to illness and I had to make that same difficult, but humane decision, that I did for you 7 years ago. Like you she became ill in June and it is an up and down hill battle like you experienced, much like being on a roller coaster ride. Her last 3 plus months on this earthly plain is so much like your experience that you must be more than just babies adopted by the same Mom. Her illness was hard to diagnosis - first digestive, than tonsillitis, then largyneal paralysis. Along the way she developed a form of dementia and her left eye which was thought to be watering and producing discharge was too late determined to be pressure building up behind the eye most likely caused by a tumor. The final diagnosis was either the largyneal paralysis would eventually cause her to choke to death or the pressure on her eye would be so intense the pain would be unbearable and I didn't want her to suffer. You only suffered one minor seizure at the end. Lady suffered a mild one in mid September but bounced back to normal. Her last day with me she suffered 2 minor seizures early in the morning - about 2 hrs apart. She recovered and seemed normal, ate, etc. though her pacing was constant and she couldn't seem to get comfortable anywhere. At 5pm after a trip to the backyard - once her favorite place - and yours - she suffered a major seizure and I had to take to the vet for her last visit. Please introduce her to my other babies, Misty and Sugar, as well as all the new friends you've made. I want you to know I still miss you very much. Lady will come back to me soon and will reside in a place of honor next to you on the fireplace mantel. You were the best friends a person could have. Love Mom

My dear Boots, It's been a long time since I talked to you, but that doesn't mean that I have not thought of you. I think of you more now that your adopted sister, Lady, is getting on in years and doesn't have a good friend by her side like you had her when I was gone. I know she's lonely. Lots of things have happened since I wrote last. I now have 3 grandnieces that would have been good playmates for you. As you may recall, Lady was not that fond of children - perhaps something in her life prior to coming to stay with us triggered that response. Despite the early onslaught of hot temps, Lady was in rare form this morning and chased a squirrel out of her yard. Earlier this week, she had a rabbit come visit. He was about your size. Bet you have lots of rabbits, squirrels and other animal friends near you now. Have fun, my sweet girl. Will try to visit you more often but know that I miss you still and think of you always. You were a special baby! 5/4/2012

Hello dear Boots. Time has flown by again and another year has passed since I spoke to you. However, I do think of you all the time. You were a great little girl, so loving and loyal. Lady is fine. Getting older like me. She had her "spa" day last week - bath, hair cut, routine checkup and they dressed her up in a Halloween bandana. If they only knew that she, you and all my furbabies really don't like Halloween. Too much noise and too many kids running around and ringing our doorbell. It made you and still makes Lady nervous and excited. We didn't have too many kids this year because it rained. But I of course had way too much candy thinking we'd have lots of kids because it was on a Saturday this year. Oh well. I'll take it into the office and share with my co-workers. So I hope you're doing well and making many new friends. I'm still working and doing my water aerobics twice a week - have to in order to be able to get up and move. Arthritis seems to be worse on some days and better on others. Can't figure out what the determining factor is but I just grin and bear it. Thanksgiving is fast approaching and before you know it Christmas and another year will be here. Lady is getting to be less tolerant of the cold, especially when her coat is short. She had her sweater on this morning. Remember me trying to get a sweater or raincoat on you? It was like a game of chase but being the tolerant girl you were you would always give in and let me dress you up to protect you from the elements. I bet the weather there is nice all the time. I'm going to put up a tree this year for the first time since you were with us. It will help to brighten up the home and bring back fond memories of past holidays. Jen is going to try to come down for a visit before the end of the year which will make Lady happy. Just like you she has to sleep with Jen when she visits. However, I finally got a new bedroom set and my old set is now in the guest room and as you recall, the mattress is fuller so Lady won't be able to get on the bed without the help of the old trusty ottoman that you used to use. Well my sweet Boots, I need to go feed Lady and get things ready for another work day tomorrow. Will try to talk to you again soon. Love you, Mom.

For those who visit Boots, please note that she is a girl, not a boy. Dear Bootsie, another year gone by. Just where does the time go? This year would have marked your 20th birthday on October 2nd. Can't believe you've been gone from this earthly plane for 3 years. Still miss your beautiful face. Lady is doing fine, doesn't seem to have much back pain when walking or running. However, she does make a lot of whining or crying type noises so I don't know if she's in pain, she's trying to communicate to me or she's just bored. Last weekend Damian & Rene's 2nd daughter Hayden was christened. Unlike Lady, who isn't fond of kids, you would have had fun with her older sister Campbell who will be 3 on Christmas day. There's finally a nip in the air in the mornings which means the cold weather of winter is probably not far behind. Lady and I don't tolerate the cold as well as we used to, an unfortunate sign we're both getting older. I'm still doing water aerobics which I took up early last year to help with my back pain and it seems to work most of the time. You probably don't feel pain or cold or heat where you are. I'm sure the temps are perfect there. So have you made any new friends? I've given you a pillow for you to be comfortable when you nap. Have fun my sweet and talk to you soon. Love, Mom

Another year has flown by. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you for your birthday. It's been real hectic here with work and Lady's and my health issues. My Mom passed away on 6/14/07 (you've probably seen her around up there) and we had to make a rush trip home to Detroit. Lady had to be boarded at Sugar Hill (her first time) and she didn't like it at all. Since then we've been to UGA twice. Once for MRI, etc and a follow up in September. So far Lady doesn't have to have surgery which is a good thing, but as you may remember, it is not easy keeping her still. She's on meds as needed. Bet you're glad you don't have to take meds anymore. Jen moved to VA in April to start fresh so the sleepovers with Lady & Ginger & Misty are over. Though she is planning to come for Thanksgiving. Wish you were here. Campbell, Damian & Rene's little girl will be 2 on Christmas and she would have loved you. Take care, my dear Boots and know that we still love, miss and think of you. Till we meet again. With love. 10/27/07

Boots, It's me again. It's Memorial Day weekend 2007 and I was missing you so thought I'd stop by and change your surroundings a bit. Make them more summery. Lady & I are doing fine. Though she needs to have back surgery in the next month or so. Sure wish you were here to keep her company while she recuperates -- just like she did with you. You two were such good buddies. I was so blessed to have had you in my life as was Lady. Hope you're enjoying being with all our family members and furry pals who have crossed that bridge. Tell them all I said hi and miss them. I love you all! 5/27/07

My Dear Boots, I cannot believe you have been a resident of the Rainbow Bridge for one year. The 2nd of this month would have been your 18th birthday. I still miss you like it was yesterday. You were my devoted companion for 12 years and a friend to me and my first baby, Misty, for 5 years before that. Your illness took you from me but you fought a brave fight as you always did. You were a good teacher to Sugar (who left us to join Misty in Rainbow Bridge in 2000) and then Lady, who came to be our roommate in 2003 and your protector during your illness and last days on this physical earth. Lady & I miss you every day and look forward to the day when we all (including all my furbabies) are together again. Please wait for us...WE LOVE YOU, BOOTS! 10/24/06