Sam's Sam

  This evening was the hardest day of Sam's life.  His Sam passed away, and his heart was broke.  Sam has spent the last three years of his short life writing letters, drawing pictures and telling Sammy, his girl, stories.  He would tape them up on the wall next to her bed on the back porch, and he would sit with her, talk to her and check on her constantly.  She would be one of the first things he saw every single morning, and throughout the day, she would invade his thoughts and he would say, "I wonder how my Sammy girl is?"  He has fallen asleep laying by her and at times literally held her paw in his hand.

Sammy was our old Boxer.  We all loved her, but she clearly was Sam's dog.  She had lived for almost fourteen years, and she had a good life on our farm.  She was deaf and couldn't hear us anymore.  She had lost most of her teeth and had a hard time eating.  She had severe Arthritis and would fall down and couldn't get up.  Her whines became more than we could bare as we watched her walk in pain.  Her kidneys were failing and she begin to have a hard time breathing and we knew she was suffering. 

She is pain free and young again, and my little boy Sam lost his best friend dog.  Today, we loved her enough to let it be her first day in Heaven.  This evening he carried flowers as he bravely walked to her grave.  As he sat on that fresh mound of dirt and cried, my heart broke into pieces.  Watching through the window I saw his Daddy kneel down by him and they cried together.  They sat out there for the longest time talking about how happy Sammy is now and how she is with Jesus and how some day, years from now, when we go to Heaven, she will be there waiting for us.  When Sam was ready, he then lifted him up and carried him into the house.  I will never forget that image in my mind, and I imagine that even though Sam is only six years old, he will always remember his Sammy girl and how much he loved her. 

Tonight Sam went to bed with a picture of her in his hand, and we taped the letters he wrote to her on his wall.  She will always be watching over my Sammy boy.