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I had to let go of my dog, Sam at the end of June.
He was a month and a bit shy of his 16th birthday.
I’m 66, he was with me nearly a quarter of my life.
I was a delivery/courier and every day he would come to work with me.
We spent summers canoeing the wilderness and crossed the country from Atlantic to Pacific.

I had moved in March and bought a rural property.
He had by that time become incontinent.
I had hoped to give him a good spring/summer/fall where he could lay outside enjoying the sun
and breeze and pee/poop wherever and whenever he wanted.
I hoped he could make it to winter when it would likely be time to let him go,
but his health began to fail in June to the point where I could no longer justify keeping him.

My daughter and her husband made the trip out to see him once more and help me.
On the way into the city and the vets, we stopped at Dairy Queen to give him a last ice cream.
In the past, he would have wolfed it down but now it was all he could do to enjoy a few licks.

I was unfamiliar with the animal hospital but they were very kind.
They had a special room with a couch, chairs, and rug set up like a living rug.
It was so much better than some sterile stainless steel examining room.

I think sometimes the Good Lord reaches out and does something special
to let you know you’re doing the right thing and in the right place.
In this case for me, it was the two young female vet assistants
that came into the room to help prep my dog...and me, my daughter and SiL for the vet.
These two young ladies were both named ‘Sam’...I mean what are the odds of that happening??

Eventually, the vet came and it was time.
I lay on the floor holding Sam in my arms and as the vet began to administer the shot,
I sang softly to him one of the silly songs I use to make up as I traveled the country with him.

Happy puppy, Sam’s a happy puppy
He jumps and plays and licks my chin
I gotta laugh when I see him grin
Happy puppy, Sam’s a happy puppy
...a happy puppy...

and that wail was in me too and I struggled to keep it inside...just as I’m doing now.