Five Years Ago Today


The photo of Shasta on the cover of the October 2006 issue of Dog World magazine was taken at an agility trial we competed in together in Westfield, MA on June 12, 2005. I love the look on Shasta's face as he watches me for direction on where to go next. I can't believe it was 5 years ago, it feels like just yesterday. I still can't comprehend that Shasta is gone.

I recently read a short poem that expresses many of my feelings, it is titled, "I Only Wanted You".

I ONLY WANTED YOU

They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I’d walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

(Anonymous)