Rest In Peace My Little Fur Kid

Recently we had to say good-bye to our oldest Fur Kid. Sir Winchester Blake who was born on December 19, 1996. Tom adopted Winchester when he was about 6 weeks old. Winchester was an orange sable Pomeranian with one heck of an attitude. I got to know Winchester shortly after Tom stepped back into my life after a ten year absents. Winchester was two years old. Tom brought him out to Phoenix to meet me on one of his monthly visits. Winchester never left :) He became my constant companion. I took him everywhere with me. He even kept me company at work on the weekends. He learned to play with Lynn's and Sandra's cats who were larger then him. Kevin and April quickly re-named him Furby and didn't miss a heartbeat to tease him. Lucky for Winchester both Kevin and April were no longer living at home so the torture was minimal. I had never had a boy dog before. They have habits and instincts I'm not fond of. Yet, I'm firm believer that you accept your step-children as they are. I found ways to minimize his barking and marking of territory. When the lip stick came out ~ I turned my head and ignored it. In no time at all I loved the little guy as if I had been there when he was adopted.

In October of 2005 we found out that Winchester's kidneys were failing. He was put on a special diet. In May of 2006 he became very sick and spent 3 days in the hospital. I remember Tom saying he just wanted to be able to take Chester (his nickname for him) to the cabin one more time. Chester rebounded and we had several trips to the cabin that summer. Chester LOVED winter. He would roll in the snow, drag his body through it and then plant his face in it. He would come in and run to the fireplace to heat up and then 15 minutes later it was back out the doggie door. This went on all day long!! In March Chester begin a very slow decline. He had always loved to eat. In fact, he did a little circle dance at your feet every single time he thought it might get him food and it usually worked. Now, it was a chore to get him to eat and his weight dropped drastically so did his energy level. On June 10th, 2007, Tom and I took Chester to the park near our house one last time. We loved him, we talked to him and we said our good-byes. As I held him in my arms at the vets office I knew that his path had come to an end here but I was so ever thankful that his path had included me. Fur Kids are incredible. They love us and trust us on a level that is humanly impossible. Every time I look at his favorite spot by the front door I miss him, but more importantly, I can't imagine having missed out on the love and laughter he brought me. Rest In Peace My Little Fur Kid.