To meet you our gentle giant was to love you. You never met anybody that didn't fall in love with you-even those that were not fond of dogs or intimidated by your size. You greeted everyone with a wag of your tail that came to visit us. You were a ray of sunshine that we miss every day. You loved life. You loved to play out in the backyard with Katie. You'd run & play forever. You liked playing with dad too. You were dad's shadow from the time I brought you home. Dad hasn't been the same since you left us. You loved to go to the river & swim. We remember how excited you got every time we turned down the road-it was time to swim & wonder if just maybe this time you could catch a duck! You loved everybody & evrybody loved you. After meeting you it even encouraged a some of our friends to get a dog! You even adopted a sick kitten that we brought home. She only weighed 4 lbs when we brought her home-compared to your 90. You were so careful & gentle around her. She misses you too. This summer we planted a memorial/butterfly garden in front. It's for you,Rex,Mom,& Pop. We spent alot of time trying to make it just right. The butterflies love it. It was covered last week. I hope you saw it & knew that we were thinking about you. I think about you al the time & miss you all the time. I've been crying like a baby for the last hour just because I miss you so much. It's just not the same with you not here. We has such a short time with you. We wanted alot more than just four years with you. I'm sorry that you had to go through the pain that you did. I wish I could of done it for you. You were a huge part of our lives & always will be. None of us will ever forget you or stop missing you. Big boy I hope you understand why we did what we did. We didn't have a choice. You were paralyzed. We knew you would not be happy not being able to run & chase your balls. So we had to decide to let you go. The seasons haven't been the same without you here. You missed all of the snow we had. We missed watching you open all of your presents on Christmas day.
You were more than just a dog-you were a part of our family-a huge part. Dad doesn't have anybody that hangs out with him in the garage or the yard now. I know i"m rambling big boy but I have alot to say. We took it for granted that you would be with us for a long time. Your time on earth was way too short-but know this you brought alot of joy to us. You were my Patchy Boy. Katie is still kind of lost with you not here. She never worried about having anybody to play with. If everybody else was busy she knew she could always take you outside & you guys could play. Remember the first time we took you to the river? You wouldn't listen to Dad at all. As soon as Katie picked the dummy you listened to everything she said & did exactly what she wanted! Dad couldn't believe it! Your Katie still wants to be a vet. We all know that she'll be great-she loves all animals. Nick misses you too. He hides his feelings well. We know he didn't pay as much attention to you as you would have liked-but just know he loved you & misses you. We have 2 pictures of you on the mantle. I took pictures of you to work to make a memory book-they did a bad job. So I've got the pictures sitting here & I'm going to do one myself.
We have a new dog now. I couldn't stand not having a dog around. I got her too soon after you left us. She doesn't fit into our family well. We've tried hard with her. She has to live in a crate when no one is home & at night. That's something we never did with you. We had the boards up to keep you in the kitchen sometimes. You could have jumped those boards any time you wanted-but you never did. You always knew that there was a good reason we had to put you in there & we'd let you out as soon as we could. Just know big boy that no one could ever replace you. We were lucky to have you as a part of our lives. Some people say that animals are lucky to find good homes-but we were the lucky ones to have you in our lives for 4 years. Always remember we will all be together again someday. Then we can all run & be free of pain. Take good care of Mom,Pop & Rex for me. Run & play with Rex-just be careful-he's alot smaller than you.
I love you big boy!---Mom