From that day forth, we discovered Skeeter's personality and she learned ours. She was a sun worshipper and never missed an opportunity to lay in the sun. She was also very sociable and hated to be left home bored all day. Every day, she eagerly watched us to see if she was going to get to come with us. She accompanied us pretty much everywhere we went whether they allowed dogs or not. There were few days when she was left behind. Almost every day, she went with her hanging buddy to dog parks, friends' homes, and ball games.

Skeeter was always a joy to be around, especially when she was playing tug of war or keep away with all of her playmates like Chico, Max, Stitch, Trooper, Ben, and Nathan or meeting new friends at the dog parks. Everybody loved her and she loved just hanging out with furry friends like Buddy, Dana, Lacy, Ruby, and Twinkle. She was also a well-traveled dog and went on numerous adventures with us. She loved to walk long distances and explore new places. She explored the trails, parks, and mountains of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the plains of Minnesota and Iowa, and the craters, caves, and beaches of Texas and Hawaii.

Besides being fun and extremely lovable, Skeeter was always very calm and gentle with all other animals. She loved to meet all of God's creatures and learn about them to include horses, ponies, cows, pigs, deer, squirrels, mongoose, and even armadillos. She was especially curious of anything that looked like a baby in someone's arms and she really loved playing with children and they loved her, too. She never hurt a puppy, dog, or cat, even if they attacked her first and was very patient with puppies and kitties. She would shake with nervous excitement upon meeting new cats to see if they would like her. She had several cats that were her friends and family: Bella, Eli Sr., Eli Jr, Flaco, Gordo, and Socks.

As Skeeter grew older and slowed down, she also helped to provide companionship and comfort to seniors in retirement homes and care centers in Arizona and Texas. For the 14 years she was with us, she was truly our therapy dog that taught us volumes in love, acceptance, and patience.

Skeeter was our beautiful, kind, loving dog with soul-searching eyes that left us far too soon. We hoped she would live forever and were extremely saddened to have lost her. We looked forward to snuggling with her and loving her every day because she made it so easy. We believe she was an angel in disguise and we praise God for introducing her into our lives. Without her, we would never have learned how much love, devotion, joy, and happiness that this beautiful soul could bring us. Skeeter, we will miss you every day of our lives. We pray that you are in heaven, providing that same love, devotion, joy, and happiness to God and that someday, we will see your beautiful, shining light again.

5/19/08 My dear Skeeter, it has been 7.5 days since we made the heart-wrenching decision to let you go be with God. I'm so sorry it took us so long to make that decision. We were blinded by trying to stop your declining health and ignored how much discomfort you were experiencing. We both loved you so much and couldn't face being without you. We are still devastated that you are gone. Your Pet-Daddy woke up this morning crying saying the house was so empty without you. He said you were such a huge part of our lives, especially your daddy's because you were playmates and hanging buddies. I think of you and cry every day because I miss you. I have your ashes at my bedside which is where you used to sleep in your bed next to ours when you got tired of our bed. I pray that you are happy and playing again next to God, his son Jesus, and his heavenly angels.

5/23/18 I am having a hard time not having you to wake up to, hug, kiss, come home to after work, and spend time with all evening. It saddens me greatly and I end up sobbing deeply. Work is pretty much the only time I can get my mind on something else and not keep wishing you were still here. My memories are extremely bittersweet when I look at pictures and think of you and then think about how we put you to sleep forever. I am wracked with guilt that I did not have them remove the mast cell fluid from your lungs again and try a mast cell stabilizer as I had been planning. I was listening to the beliefs of others that said to "let her go" and getting brainwashed thinking that you were in pain. I didn't know that for sure because you didn't appear to be in pain. Maybe I was blind to your pain. That is just exactly how messed up I am, filled with self-doubt. I know you couldn't live forever and we were just delaying the inevitable, but every day with you here was a beautiful and joyous day for us with your sweet and loving presence. Both mine and your pet-daddy's hearts are shattered and will never be whole again while we are on this earth. I pray that God forgives me for taking your life and that He is enjoying your true love and devotion in heaven.

5/28/18 My dear, sweet baby, I miss you every day. I see so many things that remind me of you like how we walked on the trails here at home, how we would go to feed the kitties every day, and the places you liked to go and sniff around afterward. You always made it special for me when I came home, and I looked forward to spending time with you. Your beautiful amber eyes were always beseeching me to lay down and cuddle with you. When we were doing something and not paying attention to you, you would get up and come over to us. Now when I leave work and head home, I think about how you are no longer with us and I get so sad and angry for giving up on you, because we could have tried something else. I can't bring myself to watch TV in the living room, because that was our special time together to snuggle. Today was a three day weekend and I usually was able to spend more quality time with you, so this weekend has been very hard. Everything seems to remind me of you: songs I hear, the bird in the front yard that seems to keep tweeting "Skeeter", "Skeeter", "Skeeter", or just looking down in the kitchen where your dish used to be and how you would lay there waiting to be fed. I loved you so deeply and wish every day that you were still here, only healthy and not suffering. There would never have been enough time with you. I prayed to God again today to lift your soul to Heaven and keep you right next to Him because you have always been a loving, devoted, angel. If I never get to see you again, at least if your are in Heaven, I would be happy.

6/8/18 My sweet, loving Poo-Poo head, it has been 4 weeks since the worst day of my life, when we let you go. These past 4 weeks have been filled with so much sorrow and misery. Casey came with her new baby and she stayed a little longer to help me with the loss of you. I really wanted you to meet and smell her baby girl because you were always fascinated with babies since when you were a puppy and your first owners had a baby. It makes me so sad you didn't get to meet her. Monday, I turned on the radio on the way to work and the song that started playing was "Seasons in the Sun". I cried for 20 minutes until I got to work. It was like you were talking to me. It doesn't feel right not being able to hug and kiss you and spend time with you every day. I think about all the times I would sit on this computer and you would get bored with it and come over to me to insist I spend time with you. I long to curl up next to you, love on you, and have you nip my nose again so gently to show how much you loved me, too. I look at pictures of how you and your pet-daddy would play on the floor with you gently nipping at him while he pretended to be in pain. Then you would gently lick and kiss him on his arms. Lately, I've been reading web sites and looking at books that provide "evidence" that we will see our animals in heaven. This is the only thing that comforts me. I go through the daily routine, but I can't stop thinking about you, how much I love and miss you. I continue to pray that you are in heaven and I will see you again. All my love, Mom.