Your puppy years were so delightful. I was so proud of my little Missy Ginger wherever I took you, everybody stopped to say hello and pet you. You enjoyed this so much and basked in the attention. As a pup, you told me all of the time when you wanted to be taken outside for a walk. You even carried the retractable leash in you mouth until out on the sidewalk and stood there for me to attach the leash. I remember your puppy naps and you waking up. So cute and precious!! I would tickle your tummy upon waking and your yelp of happiness----"Yabby Yow". I was so much in love with you! "You were so smart with such an adorable personality.

You loved nature all of your life. You were so happy being outdoors either on walks in the neighborhood or up in the mountains on trails that we hiked on. You knew how to stop and smell the roses. I can still see your wiggly-waggle trot with your tail swishing back and forth in happiness on those walks and hikes. I loved giving you those opportunities to get outdoors. I can still see you sunning yourself in the back yard all the while looking to the blue sky, clouds and birds in the trees. I often wondered what you were thinking about or dreaming.

You were a great companion not only to me but also to the others like you in the house like Sherri and Bently and the cats.

The most memorable thing about you was your intelligence, and mostly compassion for others in the household and especially for me when I needed that special attention that you would give to make me feel better: laying your warm head on my lap or legs. So compassionate and so smart.

I can not think of anything that brings me to tears more than as you were getting older you always got up from your comfortable nice spot by the fireplace and came over to where I was sitting; gently nudging my arm to be able to put your head in my lap and paws on my legs for me to rub your tummy and then you would go to sleep. I sometimes sat most of the night with you sound asleep in my lap. I have asked God what I had done to deserve such love and devotion. You were truly a gift to me from God and I must be worthy of the love and devotion you gave me.

I want to thank you for the care and nurturing that you provided to our mutual buddy Bentley. You cared for him when he was a puppy, throughout his life and at the end when his life was taken from us by cancer. You snuggled up to him to give him comfort. You would groom him all of his life to make him feel better and to calm him down.

I remember how you and Bentley would play in your youth and most of your adulthood. Bently would egg you on for a chase and you would take him up on it and off you two went running after each other throughout the back yard and through the house. Seeing how you played with Bently was so wonderful. You did a really good job of nurturing Bentley and in return Bentley kept you active and healthy for most of your life.

You taught Bentley so well and yes the both of you were partners in crime just to show you daddy your intelligence. Yes you were the one that learned to open the single refrigerator door by pawing at the bottom corner of the door when we were gone to work durng the day. You and Bentley cleaned out the bottom three rows of food. This went on for a week or so and I put "Duct-Tape" on the refrigerator door to keep it closed. But none the less, you managed to get the refrigerator door open. I did not know who the culprit was until I found "Duct-Tape" stuck to your front paw. I had to buy a new side-by-side refrigerator to keep you at bay. You little stinker------so smart!! I say this affectionately!!

How I remember your peanut-butter raids into the pantry. Again you were so smart to figure out how to turn the handle and open the door to the pantry. You would not get anything else but the peanut-butter jar I had bought you at the grocery store. You loved peanut-butter so much. I can still hear you smacking your lips trying to get the peanut butter off the roof of your mouth.

O how I remember the "Doggy Bath Nights" with you and Bentley. I would generally start with you Ginger. When finished you would "Burn-Rubber" all over the house for an hour of so until you got tired. I believe you were helping to dry your wet coat. Then it was Bentley's turn and when finished, he would entice you in to a romp around the house running non-stop for an hour or two as it seemed. I remember we had to clear out the house of obsitcals that would get in the way of the two of you. What an experience!! I will always remeber these episodes of your "Beagle Baglona" with great love and affection. It was so much fun and I believe it symbolized your relationship with your Daddy and of course Bentley. You were so happy on bath nights.

When Bentley died on 6/17/2011, alot died in your heart and mine also. It was just a few months later that you developed that dreaded cough which the vets could not diagnose properly and ultimately the fatal lung cancer that took you away from me. I believe that Bentley's passing broke your heart and thus susceptible to that affliction that took you away from me.

The most special thing I will always remember about you is your compassion for others and especially for me. I remember the times that we would sit out side on a warm summer night when I could not sleep. You would lie down right next to me and cuddle up to me and look up at me with those big brown eyes of yours telling me how much you loved me and things would be alright with what ever was bothering me at the time.

I was the luckiest person in the world to have your love for 17 years. You made me a very wealthy man by giving me your love and devotion.

The last year and half you helped my through difficult times and you provided much needed psychological support and you were always there for me with your unconditional loving eyes. O how much I wish we could still be together, however God had other plans for you. You earned a special place next to God and our savior Jesus Christ as a "Doggy-Guardian Angel" and will use your special gift of compassion to help all God tells you to help. I hope and pray that your help will be for me also and now must let you go to be with God.

My baby girl I want nothing but eternal happiness for you and free of pain. I know you are in a better place now and it is my wish for you and my other loved ones in heaven to come and escort me to be with you when my time on this earth is up. I hope that you find my dad, Brandy, Happy, Sherri, and of course Bentley to be with. In the meantime, please come to visit me and tell me you are alright and well taken care of. I will look hard to see your soul and sprit and feel for your presence. The 17 years we had together was simply heaven on earth. I prayed to God for your safe journey to be with him at the Rainbow Bridge the day that we had to part. That was the most painful day of my life. I wish I could have gone with you that day.

My dear sweetheart, I would do anything in my power to bring you back to me, but God had his plans for you. My promise to you is that I will visit your Rainbow Residency each week to talk to you and talk about the times we had together. Just to be with you always.

Missy Ginger you are now my guardian angel-----keep loving me as I will always have a very special and deep place in my heart for you which will long for your return to take me with you for an eternity. I am sure that you are entertaining everyone at the Bridge with your beagle comedy! Thank you so much for your companionship and love you gave me.

Love your Daddy 10/21/2012

A Parting Prayer for Ginger

Dear Lord, please open your gates and call St Francis
to come escort this beloved companion
across the Rainbow Bridge

Assign her to a place of honor,
for she has been a faithful servant
and has always done her best to please me.

Bless the hands that send her to you,
for they are doing so in love and compassion,
freeing her from pain and suffering,

Grant me the strength not to dwell on my loss,
Help me to remember the details of her life and celebrate,
with the love she has shown me.
And grant me the courage to honor her
by sharing those memories with other.

Let her remember me as well
and let her know that I will always love her,
And when it is my time to pass over into paradise,
please allow her to accompany those
who bring me home.

Thank you Lord,
for the gift of her companionship
and for the time we've had together.

And thank you, Lord,
for granting me the strength
to see that she should not suffer with my selfishness
and to have given her back to you on October 21, 2012

Please also visit Bentley.