I am becoming more accustomed to my new home in Doggy Heaven as each day passes. It is becoming difficult to decipher days anymore, as the sun always shines and the sky is always blue. Time is endless, there are no clocks, no schedules, just peace and tranquility. All the dogs and cats live together in harmony. Hard to believe I don’t even have the urge to chase after a cat. I always felt I had to dislike those feline things, for to get along with one was a horrid no-no! Funny how dogs and cats dislike each other just because that is the way it is suppose to be! After all those years I now come to find out that cats are no bother at all, and have come to like to hear them purr. Kinda soothing!
      As you can tell with time on my paws, I do think alot about life around me, the way it was and how it is now! My daily strolls are so peaceful! I just feel so joyful and content. Some pals from my hometown---Rasta, Kachina and Lacey are here, getting a drink of the cool, clear water from the crystal-clear creek that flows throughout our home here. Rasta yelped when she saw me and they all ran up the bank to greet me.
      Kachina asked “is everything okay, your thoughts seem to be elsewhere?” I assured everyone I was just taking some time alone in silence, thinking about one of our brothers who is sick, and lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His mistress (owner) is from our hometown of Boardman and I just read a letter she sent to my masters, in hopes one of them would recite it to me during one of our quiet times together.
      ‘You see, I continued, even though I am here now, my spirit still surrounds my loving masters. When we are silent and alone, we send thoughts back and forth. My masters wish to let other pets and their owners know about my new life here and our talks together during our quiet times.’
      “Well c’mon, what does the letter say,” Lacey inquired.
      Rasta jumped up into the air, barking, “Read it to us please!”
      So I will share it with you. I starts out....
      “Dear Gretta: There are many miles between Boardman, Ohio and Las Cruces, New Mexico, but now with you already in a new dimension, distance is not a factor. We haven’t met yet but often I interpret my mistress’s thoughts and that occasion may happen in the near future.
      “Sometimes after reading your column, my mistress pats me with affection and murmurs to me. I respond with a quizzical look and dog-speak some sounds which always seem to please her. Afterwards I am content and wander off to one of my favorite napping places. I nap a lot as I’m 13-years-old and even more so because I am a diabetic. I get insulin shots in the morning and again in the evening. That pattern of timing coincides with my meals, so I usually look her up if she doesn’t call me before and we have the situation under control.
      “A little history: my mother was a homeless Cocker Spaniel, eating road kill when a caring couple, neighbors, were driving home from the desert nearby and picked her up. The couple promptly took mother to the veterinarian, who announced that she appeared healthy and would soon deliver a litter. I was one of her six pups. The vet said some of us were part wolf, as I am. Natural instincts and agility of that species helped me apply skills in games I invented to the surprise of my folks. A keen curiosity and a communication trait enabled me to be a ‘person-dog’. I still get excited and will wait for the door for the arrival of someone who was announced to be coming. If they are bringing their dog, it makes their arrival even more exciting.
      She concluded the letter, “that seems to bring this letter full cycle to my opening statement about meeting you one day. Until then.....”
      My friends Lacey, Kachina and Rasta all stood silent after hearing the letter. We all agreed that the times when we are sick and old and our masters feel that they may lose us, is such a hard time for all of us. I know when I became so very sick, my masters knew they had to take me to the veterinarian and that my time on the Good Earth was coming to an end.
      “There were tears of sadness, but they knew they had to let me go,” Rasta said.
      “But I was okay and comforted to know that my pain would end as I made my way here to Doggy Heaven.’ Lacey said,, adding “my pain stopped and all I felt was peace.”
      “Me too,’ Kachina barked.
      We all still visit our masters in spirit and remember the memories of the love they faithfully gave us. We all agree that if they only knew how beautiful of a world we now live in, they would smile,” Lacey said.
      When our masters are silent in their thoughts, we know we are still there curled up at their feet.
      And we all barked together, and our tails wagged for all of you!
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