At 8:30 this evening, with the help of our kind vet, Punky Doodle went
peacefully to sleep for the last time.  He was such a trooper with all he
had gone through.  We spent many months taking him back and forth to the vet
for tests, electrocardiograms, ultrasounds and surgeries and though it all
he constantly held on to the joy of life.
 
All his ailments finally became more than he could take and he began to go
downhill in the last few weeks.  As much as we wanted to see him pull
through it all, we knew that he would not get better.  Tonight it became
obvious that it was time to go.  We took him to the clinic where the doctor
met us and we held him and told him how much we loved him until it was all
over.
 
We brought him home with us and buried him in a wonderful little spot in
our backyard while my wife read this poem over his grave and a candle
burned in his honor.
 
A little cross
To tell my loss
A little bed
To rest my head
A little tear is all I crave
Under my very little grave.
With nothing more
upon it than
"Here lies the little
friend of man"
 
Right now, I feel like my heart will break.  We love you Punky Doodle and
will never forget you.  You were my little buddy.  Rest in peace little boy.
 
  Mike, Wanda, Max, Peanut and Woodstock.
[Posted in FML issue 1767]