The first glimpse I had of you was a flash of a furry ball tumbling over another - your sister. Quickly retreating into a corner you
trembled. Large brown eyes searched around inquisitively and yet
terrified -- vulnerable and at the mercy of what was about to befall your life. I could read your mind even then. "Who is this strange
two-legged being and why is he staring at me?"

"That's the one I want", I said. "That's the one." Holding you in one arm, I paid your bail to take you home as your heart raced against my arm. My fingers wet and sticky from the dribbling saliva as you panted
frantically. We then began the journey home - the beginning of our life's adventures together. You and the two-legged being you would come to know as your best friend.

There are those who believe that the children of the Universe and those that walk the Earth are more than those of the species with two legs. Sometimes they have four like you. And when I adopted you, you came home as my four-legged child . A child that I accepted as if you had come into this world from my own flesh.

Nothing has given me more pleasure than to watch your enjoyment -- which you find in just about everything, because everything is infused with your passion for life and all that you hold dear -especially running through the park after the first snow. "Let's go by way of the girls", as we affectionately call them (the cows), sends you into ecstacy. You could watch and communicate with them for hours as they stand staring back at you bewildered.

But most of all a walk downtown is your greatest pleasure, and mine too -- as an observer mostly. Tagging along as you make all the stops,
visiting with friends you have made. You gladly bring me along -- prancing proudly , leash clenched tightly, tugging me at the other end. It's Behind the counter priviledges everywhere with biscuits and pets and sounds of adoration. It is as if it is your town. One thing is for sure -- it is your stage, especially the video store. Juggling and tossing biscuits, you have mesmerized all who look on, literally stopping store traffic.

As nothing gives me more joy than to observe your enjoyment, nothing on the Earth plane as rendered me in awe of anything or anyone as much as witnessing the way in which you have touched the lives of so many so deeply -- including mine. Everyday I have observed you speechless as you stand silently over your food pausing as if meditating before eating. Then finding me afterwards wherever I am with tail wagging, licking your mouth smiling as if to say, "Thank you for the food".

Many have said, "She has something special, you just want to touch her". Indeed. Love comes in many different forms. It emerges in the loving hand of a friend.....the caring smile of a stranger. It also emerged as a four-legged cocka-poo named Reiko. From the animal kingdom perhaps, but displaying the finest attributes and qualities of that which reflects Human: Respect, consideration, caring and a reverance for life. A doggie with a purpose on a mission of Love, you have set out to uplift, console, and heal every two-legged being that has happened across your path -- especially the sad and lonely who sit on benches. It has been nothing less than a priviledge sharing your life.

The phone rang one afternoon. It was your Vet, Dr. Paul with news. And
from that moment two years ago I have begged you and whatever power ableor capable of allowing me to take the Cancer for you -- not only to spare you of any pain, but to spae the world you had touched the loss of you. It was not to be. They say that a parent is never supposed to outlive their children. Unfortunately, for those parents of four-legged children, this is usually if not always the case.

And now as I lie here in the early-morning darkness as you begin a journey that I cannot take with you, your whole life and our adventures together have passed before me. As you carried the tumor that would take your life, you never once failed to have a friendly greeting.....a wag of your tail....a smile for all those who happened across your path.

A Healer...and a teacher for us all, Reiko, that no matter what we always have the ability to Be our Essence. To Be Love.