I remember one day in 1997, my mother asked my opinion on which golden mix to adopt from the shelter, both young golden retriever mixes, one noticably a bit more exuberant than the other. For us, it wasn't hard to choose, the more sedate, relaxed of the two. She just would "fit" into our lives perfectly with her calm, relaxed, sweet nature. A certain dignity about her, earning her the name my brother had thought up for her, Maggie for Margaret Thatcher. Even though she enjoyed the attention she got from everyone, it was my mother who belonged to her, as she(Maggie) was my mother's owner, so to speak. She went almost everywhere with my mother that she could, she loved the car, just in general being with my mother. If you saw one, sure enough, there was the other. Over the past year or so, it became evident that she had arthritis, possibly a bit of hip dysplasia too, that made it hard for her to get around, but she took it all in stride, just as she did when her eye sight and hearing had gone also. One thing was sure, her love for my mother was still there and will always be. She had been so easy to train in basic obedience that she made it look like second nature. She had even gone on abuse cases with my mother in her younger years when she did it for the local humane society(where she was adopted). She was the official mascot, the perfect poster child that not all shelter dogs are emotionally damaged, agressive, or otherwise deemed not the dog for someone. She had indeed weasled her good, sweet nature into alot of hearts. It was with a sad and heavy heart that my mother had to let her cross the Rainbow Bridge on August 27,2010 to end her pain with the arthritis and let her go with some dignity left. To let her play with the others and run pain free and happy again, rolling around on the carpet on her back to scratch it(it was her way). She even loved the cats, never chased one, never met an enemy, couldn't hurt a flea if she wanted to.

To Maggie---you will be greatly missed and no one could ever take your place in our hearts.