This is definitely one of the harder posts I’ve sat down to type. Spanky, Shannon’s parents’ dog, moved on to doggie heaven yesterday. He always got the “he’s a bit crazy” introduction to anybody who hadn’t met him since I’ve known him. But in the past two years, I got to hang out with him, I can certainly attest to that rather random introductory sentence. He was, after all, the only dog I know who was crazy enough to swim hours on out in the pool until the age of 15. And even though I can dive into the myriad of health-related problems that he had to struggle through in his last days, I’d rather just end with this picture and poem.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you waken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.