Bubbles, our beloved dog, has left this world on August 12, 2017 during nightfall. She doesn’t really have a middle name but she certainly has a lot of nicknames: Bubbie, Goo, Googie, Bubs, Bubbleloo, Princess (as my sister called her). She was a 16 and half years old Labrador mix and was adopted at four months by my brother on his birthday at our local SPCA. She was a kind soul. She never really barked anyone except random strangers passing by in the night. She loved rolling in the grass. I remembered there were several times that she ran away from home and it scared me that someone might run her over, but we didn’t have to worry, she was so fast and one smart cookie! She always found her way back home though…one time covered in mud, because baby must have frolicked in the mud behind our neighborhood. What a grand adventure she must have embarked on! I thought by writing this down, it will help ease the pain of her passing, but it does not. Instead I write this as way to remember her. Her memories will always live on and I will keep her in my heart til the day I leave this earth as well. I will always be grateful to my brother and his partner for letting my sister and I spend the last few days with Bubbles at their house. The night before we decided to put her to sleep, to end her suffering, I remembered taking her out to walk, but she just stood there by the door, her head drooping/leaning against the door frame…I knew then it was time…she looked so exhausted, so tired, like she was hanging on by a thread for our sake, that she was ready to leave this life. That image haunts me, it stays with me, it won’t leave me. My little baby. She was soo strong and active her entire life and to witness this, her life force leaving her, her physical body failing her fills me with incredible sadness. The fragility of life. I hope to see her again one day. She has enriched my life.