Remembering, and Loving

NW THAT I'M A senor citizen, damned proud of it but finding it hard to believe it, I reflect on all the friends and family members who have passed away. there are too many, and many of them died too young. As we age, our list lengthens. At the top of my list , the ones I miss the most, are the dogs and the cats, my beloved pets from bygone days, the best friends I have had throughout my long and still lengthening life. Most of all I miss my beautiful, huge German Shepherd, who made Rin Tin Tin look like a flea, who turned heads when we walked down the street, he at a perfect heal, a leash unnecessary. A beautiful black and silver, hew as my sweet baby, and he lived ten and a half years, not nearly long enough, not that it ever could have been long enough. At the top of my list is a list of cats, and before i myself die, that list will grow even longer, because I have several cats now. Several years ago my neighbor's sweet cat was dying of feline leukemia, and she kept coming across the street to visit me as her health deteriorated. Finally one day she had that glassy eyed expression as she lay on her side in my garage, and I knew it was only a matter of hours. I called my neighbor, and he came quickly from work to be with her. As he and I held her gently between us, trying to hold back the tears, he said three things to her that I considered the most beautiful three things I havew evern heard anyone to to anyone. first, he told her that he loved her. then, he said "you have been so good for me". then, finally, he said, "we will see each other again". Suddenly I could no longer hold back my tears, and they were tears of pain and of a strange joy. She died later that night underneath my car, as if telling me that she loved me too, perhaps an an uncle. it was raining, but I knew that she would be get wet. For now on, I want to say those three things to everyone I love as they die, and I hope somebody says them to me when I lay dying. I can think of nothing better to say, nor any better way to die.