I've been privileged to know and love a lot of dogs and cats in my life. As with people in your life, you're closer to some than others, but I've always felt that dogs and cats have as much individual personality as any of the humans I've known. And then there are the extraordinary ones--the ones that you can't even use the word "pet" with. They're friends. And in Levi's case, a friend of the heart and soul. When I was happy, he was joyful. When I was unhappy or upset, he was inconsolable. (And would go to get other family members to come and "fix" whatever was wrong with me.) He would give me a kiss every night before we went to sleep. Sometimes four or five kisses. When I came back from six weeks of taking care of my dying father, he kissed me over ten times--lying down and then coming back for another and another. I'd missed him, too. He developed liver and pancreatic cancer this summer and we had to put him down on August 1st. Nobody has been more loving or loved, no matter what their species, though, and we all still miss him and talk to him all the time.
I've been working on Christmas presents, so didn't have time to make a postcard that was as good as Levi deserved, but I wanted to make sure that my gratitude for his life and his love was documented during this holiday. I'm thankful for so many things, but this year, Levi was at the top of my list.
Thank you, Levi. It was an honor to know you.
