Epilogue

So, Buddy, you’re finally at rest, sleeping with your brothers and sisters that have gone on before you.  Yesterday, April 9, you finally let me know you were tired and were ready to go home, and I loved you too much to make you suffer just because I couldn’t say goodbye.  So I made the call that would help you on your journey and held you as you died.  

These last couple months as you’ve battled this cancer, I knew there could only be one outcome.  You had your bad days, which happened more frequently in the last month, but you also had your good days.  On these days you might have been weaker, but you still had your smile, that wag to your tail, your favorite ball in your mouth.  We played ball even though the games were modified so you could lie down and I’d do all the work; you’d just watch me with your tail swishing.  You even looked for your friends the squirrels in the backyard even though you couldn’t chase them.  

Yesterday you gave me that look.  

I feel sorry for anyone who never got a chance to meet Bud.  Even though he was “only” a dog, everyone who came in contact with him came away smiling and feeling better.  

This is one of the lessons I picked up from him:  always leave people in a better condition than when you found them.  The Dalai Lama said it this way:  “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.  And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

May I continue to strive to be half the man my Buddy always thought I was.

Peace