After my children left home to pursue college, Daisy was my comfort.  She faithfully followed me from room to room to watch over me.  I could never feel lonely with her by my side.  She worried about me every time I left home without her.  She greeted me with licks and a wagging tale each time that I returned.

From the start, she showed me a whole new meaning for faithfulness and love without conditions.  She always watched me carefully, sensing my moods, knowing when I needed her most.  Her soft furry body welcomed my hugs and kisses . . . and even my tears.  She didn’t want to leave me.  She would have endured any amount of pain to remain.  But I loved her too much to put her through any more suffering.

She was a gentle soul who had been given a rough start here on Earth.  She survived when all the dogs who had been saved from a cruel puppy mill with her, had had to be put to sleep.  She survived when her first owner died and she had to be pulled away from him as she tried valiantly to guard his body.  And then she came to me.  She filled my heart with her pure love.  Like a mother, she loved and cared for me and my family.  Like a child, she lived for our affection.

I keep thinking she’s just under the kitchen table and I still look under it before pushing in a chair.  I wake in the morning and am ready to step over her, as she always laid faithfully by the side of my bed.  Yesterday, I heard her chatter her teeth, as she did when she was excited to receive a treat.  But when I turned around, she wasn’t there.  I thought that maybe it was a woodpecker against the cedar shakes on the house.  So I listened for the sound to repeat, but it didn’t . . .

Daisy has angel wings now.  She waits for me somewhere over the rainbow bridge.  I take solace in knowing she will be there when it is time for me to make the same journey.  I will see her again and feel her motherly comfort. Until then, I will miss my sweet Daisy.  I can never thank her enough for the years of love she bestowed on me and my family.  She has forever changed me, I had never known this kind of pure love before.  A love that asks for nothing in return.

http://www.theresadodaro.com   Author of The Tin Box Trilogy