Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
You've been in my heart for so many years
I can't imagine days without you.
Oh how I'll miss your little tap-tap-tap
as you danced and sang for your special food.

Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
Oh how I'll miss when you'd race the fenceline
looking for squirrels, rabbits, people and paper to move.
I don't know how I'll spend time in the living room
and look down and not see you wiggling around.

Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
The nights will be the worst 
when you aren't there to come up and say "hello",
to play peak-a-boo or to "talk to us."
Or the mornings ... 
when you'd come up to us for a little attention.
As much as you'd pretend to be a BIG dog,
your 6 lbs of ferociousness will be sorely missed.

Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
I'll think of you always when fireworks go off
and remember how much you needed my comfort then.
When Halloween comes round,
I'll remember how after your first Halloween
I had to pick up the candy bowl from the floor 
to keep those Hershey Kisses out of your little clenched jaws.

Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
My heart aches when I remember how...
-You loved to go for car rides
-You loved to "go get the mail"
-You could roll over like the best of them
-"Stay" was your middle name.

Dixie, my little girl
How do I let you go?
I come home and the house is silent
No little eyes and wiggling tail to greet me
You trusted me to love you and protect you.
Did I let you down - were you ready to go?
I pray it was the right decision.
Dixie, my little girl
How do I ever let you go...

"I have sent you on a journey to a land free from pain, not because I did not love you, but because I loved you too much to force you to stay."

***********************************************************

On the Death of a Beautiful Animal

The pain is there. The tears are there. And there is nothing,absolutely NOTHING you can do about it.
Let it be. Let the tears come.
Let it be. Accept the loss.
Hard, I know, but there's no choice anyway.

And the emptiness, the great gaping hole in your heart - let that be there also.
Let it be - don't try to fill it.
Don't try to escape it.
Don't try to do ANYTHING with it.
You can't anyway.

And then something dies in you.
Something dies, and already the healing begins.
And there will come a time when you can remember, but there will be no bitterness anymore.

And what you loved about them - the strength, or bravery,
The gentleness or playfullness.
The unquestioning love they gave.
The absence of pretense and artifice - so lacking in humans.
THAT is not lost.
No - THAT is not lost.

There will come a time when you see those very things are now in yourself.
They are a part of YOU.
It is your friend's bequest to you.

So I thank you, you beautiful animal
For what you gave me
In life And in death.