I remember the day we picked her up. Alex, our middle son, was about 10 years old and pining for a dog after we had to give our beautiful white Akita away (she was a bit too aggressive for children). We had called about a dog that people were giving away because of their move out of the area. The dog was an Australian Shepherd, as I recall, and on our arrival began its hyper-active jumping - which continued the entire time we were in the back yard.

Another dog, however - who looked like a black lab and was a much larger dog - immediately attached herself to Alex, quietly following him around the yard and sitting while he petted and talked to her. In those days, Alex spent more time talking to animals than people, and she seemed to enjoy that greatly.

So, home she came with us, greeted by two other boys and a very small yard. That was until yesterday, when the painful decision was finally made to put her at rest from the last few years of arthritis, old age and general pain. We had postponed this decision for many months, even after we lost another old friend and her backyard companion.

To describe her as a member of the family doesn’t really do it. She didn’t sit at our table and only occasionally was fed table scraps, but she did sleep inside the house most of her life with us, at the foot of Alex’s bed.  She could hear his diesel pickup coming from down the street and immediately ran to the gate to greet him. She made hundreds of camping trips riding in the trailer and sleeping under it while boys went bicycling, 4-wheeling or jeeping.

She chased sticks until she could no longer walk, she dove into the lake as soon as we arrived at the camping site, and she barked appropriately at strangers to protect her family.  She was a friend and companion to our whole family and many of our friends, and we will miss her terribly.

In the end, we all die. I know that. I accept that, and on some days even look forward to that final journey. And I hope that the title of that fun movie is true - All Dogs Go To Heaven - so that we will see her again!

Rest in Peace, dear Sadie.