He no longer lies in my arms,
My baby he is no more,
For God now cradles his head,
As I used to do.

He no longer barks at the door
When I come home,
The silence is so empty,
Without him.

I didn’t get to say goodbye,
I didn’t think my boy would go,
I never thought he’d leave me
All alone.

My heart aches for his paw
To gently touch my arm,
To hear his happy grunts when
I rubbed his ears.

His brother misses him,
He doesn’t have his buddy to play with,
We all miss our golden angel,
Our Bear, our baby.

I miss lying on his tummy
As we napped in the afternoon sun,
I miss his comforting presence
Always by my side.

He no longer swims in the stream,
The way he always did,
He no longer runs the fields,
The way he always did.

My heart aches for my boy,
All I want is to touch his head,
To feel him next to him, to have him
Home.

God, why did you have to take him?
I know he lies in your arms,
But I can’t help but wish that he was
Still in mine.

I remember when I kissed his head
That last time,
I didn’t know it was goodbye,
I was so sure he’d be okay.

But, then Mom comes home,
Tears in her eyes as she says,
“Katie, Bear died,”
What shock, what pain.

I remember thinking
‘Where are the tears?’
And then they came, in a rush,
As I thought, “my bear is dead.”

Butterflies in my stomach,
Pain in my heart,
Frog in my throat,
Tears in my eyes.

I remember we brought him home,
I remember his innocent face,
I remember his warm eyes, those eyes
Saying “I love you”

Is it possible he didn’t know?
How I loved him?
How he was the world to me?
And now he’s gone.

Bear, baby I’m holding you forever
In my heart,
You’ll always be here,
Though I long to touch you.

Then on an afternoon, cold clear day
There is a beautiful arched rainbow
Decorating the sky and I know my boy’s
Saying, “I’ve come home.”

Tears in my eyes, I remember
When home was with me,
Bear, you’ll never leave my side,
You never have.

No matter how many other dogs
Come to share their lives with us
You will always be remember,
Always loved, always missed.

You can never be replaced
Our golden boy,
We will always love you,
Our Bear, our baby.

-Katie D

Bear
November 1998 – October 12, 2005