Our Pack of Four Minus Two

Boston, Zeus, Paulo & Dune after a walk

Boston, Dune, Zeus (he always had to wear the cone for some reason or another) & Paulo in younger days.

On March 3rd, my stepdaughter had to unexpectedly put down her 10 year old yellow lab, Zeus. A traumatic event to say the least. It was almost a year ago that we lost his sister, Boston to a similar ailment (a large tumor that lurked inside them until it was too late). It is the beginning of the end of an era for our family. Now only Zeus & Boston's brother, Dune, and my german shepherd, Paulo remain, sleeping soundly as I type. These dogs have shared so much with us over the past decade: meeting and marrying my husband, the birth of our children, along with the every day adventures of chewed shoes, beautiful beach walks, muddy footprints, never ending dog hair and emergency weekend trips to the vet.

They've brought special people into our lives: friends with pups from the same litter, friends we've met on walks and others who don't blink when you tell them how much you plunked down at the emergency clinic to "unflip" your dog's stomach .

So a salute to our pack of two and the other two running on the big beach in the sky. Our lives are forever changed because of you.