Miko has crossed the bridge

[MyGirlZoe]

Christine,

I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Miko.

Run free sweet Miko.

Godspeed.

Jeannie and Zoe in NJ

[Miko's Mom]

Hi All, I'm still here. I have been checking posts but finding it hard to read when the pups are having problems, I just cry. Then I read stuff and start thinking maybe I should have tried that. I'm still coming to terms with doing all I could have done. It's just a little over two weeks since Miko passed so I am still crying everyday especially when I am driving home from work knowing he won't be there waiting for his 3 mile jog. I am still in shock that it all happened so quickly. But he was such a regal furbaby and I had to let him go with dignity. I once took him to a ritzy hotel on the Hudson. In the morning I was sitting with him in the lobby waiting for my friends and he sat there in his best bandana looking like a king. He was a classic. Still wanting to post some pics for ya'll but I just can't bear doing that yet. You are all in my heart and prayers and this "family" has been a God send. Christine

[Truffa's Mom]

Oh Christine I can't imagine the void that sweet Miko has left into your life. But I believe that the depth of our grieve can only be as immense as our love was for them.

Your love for him will get you through your pain, I will keep praying that little by little your tears will start forming a magical lake full of wonderful memories of your sweet boy that will help you mend your heart and will delineate a beautiful smile on your face. Please keep coming here, just come here and tell us what you need, tell us stories about your boy ; I really can picture him on a fancy lobby of a hotel, wearing his royal bandanna.... absolutely beautiful!!!!

You'll regain your strength, and all your "what ifs"will vanish in thin air. You always loved your baby and you always will. Everything you did was out of love for him. He is in peace now and frolicking around with a bunch of good friends and he will always be in your heart jogging and loving you back.

Take good care of yourself. Godspeed sweet Miko

Marcela & The Choco Labs

[Squirt's Mom]

Dear Christine,

Marcela has said it all so beautifully. We are with you, Christine, and will be glad to hear from you at any time. If you aren't able to post, that is just fine. But remember you are still not alone.

Hugs,
Leslie and the girls

The Journey
by Crystal Ward Kent

When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey - a journey that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your strength and courage.

If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark. Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's simple pleasures - jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be slower - except when heading home to the food dish - but you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field.

Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details - the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.

Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen. (How bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most important details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie - with a cat in hot pursuit - all in the name of love.

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound.

You will learn the true measure of love - the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together." Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often among the human race.

And you will learn humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.

If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will be not just a better person, but the person your pet always knew you to be - the one they were proud to call beloved friend.

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go down.

And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short - especially for those that love them. We borrow them, really, just for awhile, and during these brief years they are generous enough to give us all their love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left. The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken.

But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on ahead - young and whole once more.

"Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our journey comes full circle and our paths cross again.

[Miko's Mom]

OMG! Marcela and Leslie that was just so beautiful. This morning I read all that and cried. This afternoon I read it again and smiled, and then I made an album for ya'll to see my sweet boy. I hope I did the album correctly and you can view it. My neighbor superimposed the Rainbow Bridge over one of the pics of Miko and I got that into a frame today. Christine

[Roxee's Dad]

Leslie,
That was truley beautiful and inspiring.

Christine - Just viewed your pics and he and they were beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.

John (Roxee's Dad)

[haf549]

Christine:

The pictures are wonderful. Ar the 2 black labs Bucky and Annie?

Heidi

[lucygoo]

Just wanted to thank you for posting those wonderful pictures. Your Miko was beautiful. I'm so very sorry for your loss...

Gina and Lucy

[Truffa's Mom]

Christine, Thank you for the pictures, very sweet ALL of them. Glad your friend did that for you.

Big hugs to you.

Marcela & The Choco Labs

[Miko's Mom]

Thank you for viewing my pics. The other two are Bucky and Annie and are still with me. Bucky is a 5 year old black lab and Annie is a mix of golden retriever mom and a black lab dad. She is 3. Bucky is pretty hyper as you can see from the pic of all three of them. He has gotten even more hyper and nervous like since Miko passed away, and even has had the runs. Annie on the other hand has gone in the opposite direction. She has gotten so down in the dumps. She is alpha and maybe feels she lost her charge. She lays by Miko's grave when I am outside doing yard work. I had to give Miko Missing Link after our lab Tyrone passed because Miko didn't want to eat. They all grieve right along with us. They feel our pain. Thanks again, Christine