Skeeter came into my life 15 years ago. I went to our local shelter looking for a little dog after my mother had passed away. I searched through the shelter and didn't find a little dog. I was ready to give up I went back into the puppy room for one last look. I bent over to look into what was an empty cage. There he was with 2 sisters, the littlest black and white puppy. It was love at first sight and when I adopted him they told me that this would have been the last day of his life. I brought him home and he ran everywhere as fast as he could, This is how he came to be called Skeeter. I had skeeter a year when something started to go wrong, he would scream for no reason at all. I took him to the vet and they discovered he had a bad disk in his neck. He screamed so bad in pain it was unbearable. We padded the back seat of the car and took him to Ohio State University, where they did immediate surgery on him. He would stay there for a week after the surgery. When we brought him home we would have to make sure of quiet and no excitement. The vet told us if he reinjured his neck there would be no hope. He successfully came through it all and had almost total movement of his neck, I guarded him constantly. He had a good full life and was a great friend to me. The vet said he was amazed at this little dog. Just this past year of 99 he started to show signs of his pain coming back. I knew what was coming at me, and it was so hard to watch. Each day he bacame a little worse. The Vet checked him and told me I Would know when the time would come. I woke up one morning to see him not be able to get up, I knew this was the day. I got my camcorder out, crying and took his picture, called the vet and said goodbye. At the vets I could not leave my friend, I stayed while the dreaded job was done. On this day I just happened to get a new vet, my regular was not there, I had no choice. He gave him his first shot, It didn't go, He gave him another shot, He told me that this time it worked. He explained that sometimes on older dogs their veins are hard to find. I felt Skeeters pain and was crying so hard. The vet told me the second shot didn't go in, he missed the vein. Skeeter collapsed in my arm. The vet assured me he wasn't hurting, I knew he was. The third time it worked and I took my friend in my arms and went home to bury him. I sit in tears as I write, I still miss him and look at his grave in the yard where he played. He had such a hard start to life and a bitter end. I know he understood I did it for his own good, and I did it because I loved him. He will never be forgotten. I hope if any one wants a puppy or dog, they will go to their shelter and find a friend.