One lazy Sunday morning, in small town Nebraska, amidst my loneliness and tears, came God's voice to me- the gift that I am sending you is called a dog, and he will be your most precious and valuable possession. He had the soul of a philosopher, so I named him, "Jonah" which means, "dove of peace ".

Someone has said, "Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole". And in his gentle, generous, reasonable, and well-mannered way Jonah went about adding to the wholeness of all the lives he touched.

He went to school to become a therapy pet and immediately had a special way with children. During the week he would put on his "therapy pet" hat and go to his Mom's Orthodontic practice and pay special attention to the little girls and boys who were fearful. And on the weekends he would go to a children's hospital or nursing home to bring hope and joy to the sick and ailing. A special instance comes to mind; on one of his trips, Jonah went and put his head on the bed of a small girl who was paralyzed from the neck down and had no movement in her hands and legs. Jonah gazed soulfully into her eyes and slowly her hands started to twitch in an effort to reach out and pet him.

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."
- R.L.Stevenson

"Heaven goes by favor! If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in."
-Mark Twain

And then Jonah became sick himself. His fancy medical diagnosis simply meant that his muscles would gradually degenerate over time and he would lose the ability to walk. His gentle, patient spirit fell trapped in a body that would not roam like his heart wanted to!

I spared no expense or effort to try to restore God's gift to me. My care giving had portions of love, anguish, frustration and disappointment all mixed in together.

For all you care givers of loved ones out there, a word to consider--if you will--- Be grateful that God has given you the privilege and the able body to be a caregiver. Don't allow the love you pour into your care giving to ever get clouded by bouts of frustration or disappointment for those will be your twinge of regrets in the sea of wonderful memories.

I returned my gift from God back to Him on September 21, 2007.

I leave you with these thoughts:
Your dog is your friend, your partner, your defender.
He will give you his absolute all in return for scraps. He will lick the wounds that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. When all other friends desert, he remains.
You are the center of his universe, the focus of his love, faith and trust. He will be yours, faithful and true to the last beat of his heart
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion!