Losing a friend............

Sorry for my absence and this departure from the usual format.
We lost a member of the family today.
Chancellor passed away today after a short illness.
He was a loved member of our family and we all will miss him dearly.
To be fair,although Chancellor was a family dog,he really belonged to one person-Ryan.
There was a connection between the two of them that was fun to see.
Chancellor came to us five years ago with several handicaps and as time went on,his hearing and vision,which were limited when he arrived had worsened as time went on.
He passed at the Veterinary Hospital this afternoon and I think in his own way,Chancellor gave us one final gift.
He allowed us to avoid making the difficult decision of whether or not to end his life.
Chancellor had a good quality of life though,as Ryan and his running buddy Teddy helped him get around very well until the last 5 days of his life.
He was a quiet and unassuming friend to us all and he will be dearly missed.
I know that some think they are just animals and all,but they become part of the family and the one thing that a dog and to a lesser degree-a cat gives is unconditional love.
After all,how many of us get that from our fellow man?
The scary thing for me is this-if I am this upset over Chancellor,how will I handle the loss of Teddy,who I do have a deep connection with?
That is a day that I greatly fear.

I would like to thank a few people involved with this sad day.
The staff at Park Circle Animal Hospital were kind,caring and professional.
From the nurses to Dr.Benjamin Byers,all did wonderful work with Chancellor and I would recommend them highly,although I cannot say the same for the weekend "on call" vet,but that is another story for another day.
I would like to thank all the people that have been there for us over the last few days.
Mike McKain along with Joe and Autumn Plum were available for our family all night Saturday and Sunday,when I was at work and if Chancellor needed emergency care,they were there for us.
Thanks to all of you.
I would also like to thank the various people that have called today,but especially my dad.
His call was unexpected yet appreciated so much.
He likely doesn't even know this blog exists,but he will never know how much his call meant to me today.
Finally,Thanks to Chancellor for allowing us to bring him into our home and share his life with us.
I hope we made his time here as happy as he made ours.

I will be back tomorrow with the usual format with the nastiness and caustic wit that you all expect.
I wouldn't want you guys to think I am getting soft!

Photo Credit
Chancellor-Ryan Heimberger