On the day you died, God gave us sunshine and warmth after a long winter. I like to think it was for you -- to give you a last day of sun, to light the way home.
You taught me to live life to its richest. To experience the simplest of moments to its fullest. You will always be in my heart, etched with the most permanent of engravings. I will never forget how you raised your tiny face to the wind, how you found the smallest patch of sun in the yard and rested, how your eyes closed under the sun’s warmth. I won’t forget how eager you always were at the sound of a crinkling treat bag, or the splashing of ice into a glass, or the clanking of your food bowls when I prepared your dinner. I won’t ever forget my loyal friend. Your footsteps followed me wherever I went. Your blue eyes watched every move I made. You defended me even from your pack mates if they got a little too rough, or more excited than you would’ve liked.
More than anything, you taught me that life has purpose. Death has meaning. The things we take for granted are the very things that make life worth living. Knowing you were alive one moment and gone the next is easier to bear only because you gave your life willingly to defend two souls whom you loved more than life itself. I know in my heart you entered Paradise with your head held high, that trumpets blared when you arrived because you are a hero, that Gabe greeted and romped with you in a sun more brilliant than any sun you could’ve felt here with us.
You taught me that courage isn’t measured by the things you are afraid of, but by what you are willing to sacrifice in the name of love and devotion. I thank you, from the deepest part of my soul, for saving my little girl and your best friend, Bear.
Rest in Peace, Gizmo. I know I’ll see you again one day and you will jump into my arms as if you’d never left. Until then, I’ll reserve a place in my arms just for you. Because you became much more than just my loyal friend. You rose to a stature most humans can never achieve.
You became my hero.
Rest In Peace, Gizmo
1/19/2000 - 3/16/2010
