It's after 3am right now
I feel so all alone
Because it is so late at night
I can't reach for the phone

To tell someone- just ANYone
How bad it hurts inside
That Chipper... that my "Bubba Luke's"
No longer by my side.

It's strange because my 5-month-old
Is now just blocks away
Yet I can't be with him
To make my pain all go away.

I want my furry friend again
To look at me and say,
"You'll see Dylan soon, dad,
But til then I'm here to play."

My Mimi passed
my girlfriend walked
my mother left me, too
and in those painful times
I would always turn to you.

Folks might laugh when I say
that I held my dog and cried
but you looked at me and you KNEW
a part of me had died.

You asked not one darn thing from me
But food and drink and love
Yet I couldn't save you
from the plan of God above.

To give my Chipper my free time
Was like pure gold to him
We'd buddy up and watch tv
or fish for bass & brim.

I have so very few friends
In this life that's but a test
And with assurance I can say
That Chipper was my best.

So, Chip, I send you to my Lord
Join other furry friends
Cuz Cephus, Sam, Jake, and Suki,
They will let you in.

Before long I will be there
and I'll hug your neck again
The unconditional love YOU showed
Will live in me til then.

I love you with all of my heart and soul, Chipper- you were AND ARE my fourth child and the best friend I've ever had.
Love, "Daddy" 2/26/11