Odie,

I can't name another compainion I have spent as much time with as you. There is not another friend I have spent hours doing nothing with. No person that has been with me while I was sick, when I got into school, when my friends hated me, when my siblings did, through breakups and failures and championships too. You were always happy to see me. Even when I didn't deserve it. Especially when I didn't. You knew when I needed to be soothed, and let me hug you for hours even when you didn't like it. I know you didn't like kisses, but I wish I would have kissed you more anyways. I hope you know how much I love you. I've never lost a family member like this before. I can count on one hand the closest relationships I have in life, those that are for life, and one of those is with you. It is unfair that I will have to go on living without you, without a life-long friend. I suppose in that sense of the word, it isn't necessarily true. But I hope you know that for you, it is. I have loved you since the day I met you, and will love you through your last painful moments too. Even when we are not together, I will still remember to love you each and every day, and wish I could be nuzzling your nose.

I can't help but be angry, because I truthfully can't remember anything before you. As long as I have been alive, you have been at my side. I worry that I have not been grateful enough for every morning you have been waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and every evening I have kissed you on my way in. An integral part of my home is being ripped from me, and I can;t help but feel out of control.

Your love was free, and I hope mine was too. I hope there are no enemy dogs in heaven and only squeaky toys and steaks. To anyone up there, he doesn't like peanut butter, and please don't try to feed him pain pills.

I love you more than anything, more than ice cream and beach trips and car rides. I'll stick my head out the window for you.

Your sister,
Sydney