I had the privilege of adopting a beautiful, sweet and quirky seven month old Shepherd mix named Cassie in 2004. She was basically my life, my bestie and I adored her. She was shy and often anxious, but we were really an in synch pair and lived many happy years together until that dreaded day when something went wrong. I never had allowed myself to dwell on her increasing years, because I knew how very hard it would be to say goodbye. She was about 13 and a half years, and the day began normally but ended painfully after taking her to the emergency vet because she quite suddenly could not walk on her own. After a heart-aching evening and half of another new day attempting to keep her comfortable with prescriptions hoping that she would improve at the advice of the attending veterinarian, I took my baby to her regular doctor and tearfully watched her cross into the next world. She had wagged her tail for me and I knew she was peacefully surrounded by angels and our family; I also realized how much she absolutely had known how much she was loved. That night, I consoled myself with a cocktail or two, and ate a baked frozen pizza, not wanting to think about a darned thing. But there was the fact that even the night before, I had seen that I had to immediately have another pup to love. I volunteer for our animal shelter, so I regularly have an eye out for pooches to "crush on". I had a favorite rescue group that I emailed on that very night about a particular dog, and also checked a nearby rescue that I knew about. I rarely went onto their site, but was compelled to in my search, and noticed an 8 year old previously neglected very matted Australian Shepherd Mix named Tootsie, scooped up from a reservation in New Mexico. She was really cute, appeared sweet from the posted photos and even had the same three colors that my Cass had. I went to bed late that night and woke up in the morning with the name 'Tiger Lily' in my head, along with the picture of the namesake vibrant orange flower. I knew instantly that Tootsie was the one meant for me and Tiger Lily would become her new name, further confirmed by the email in my inbox that the other dog I had inquired about had already been adopted! One long and sad week to the day of Cassie's passing, I had a new poochie to love on, and be so loved in return with the fact in my head that Cass had purposely brought this new love to my life to help me heal! Over a year and a half later, she is, as my mom calls her, the lickiest dog we have ever known, who will kiss my legs or face as long as permitted, and lean her head on my leg for petting and attention. I had always planned on having my Cass' pawprint tattooed on my ankle with the words "With Me" beside it, which was the command I gave on our walks together so she would walk close by me. Tiger Lily, I've decided, will have her pawprint tattooed on the inside of my right wrist, because she definitely has become my "right hand man".

Jennifer
PRESCOTT VALLEY, AZ