Maybe once in a lifetime an individual is blessed with something really amazing and down deep inside that individual feels he doesn't deserve it but it happens anyway. I am one of those individuals and I know I didn't deserve what was given to me. I was given something that other people hope for, plan for, and have even tried to buy. But for some reason I was that lucky person who was given this amazing gift. This amazing gift was also taken away from me way too soon. The gift I am talking about wasn't wealth, it wasn't eternal youth, and it wasn't love, even though much love was involved. It is something known worldwide, it is cherished by many, abused and taken for granted by some, depended on by certain individuals, it can pick you up when you are depressed, it can make you smile and make you cry, it asks for very little in return for it's complete devotion to you and it's never around long enough. This simple gift that I was given was a Dog.

Yes, just a plain dog, four legs, a head, a tail, soft fur and a heart of gold. He really wasn't just a plain dog he was something very special. From the moment I brought him home as a small pup I just knew I was a very lucky man. He might not have been the best looking dog to some or the biggest or the smartest to others but he was to me. Even though I had two other dogs at home that were great in their own way and I loved them very much this boy made me feel different. He made me feel that I could beat this illness in me and so far I have.

It's funny, all three of these dogs were the same breed and yet they were so different in many ways. And this one dog, this one special gift seemed to stand out just a bit. It wasn't something you could put your finger on, and it wasn't something that you could see or even explain it was just a feeling I got when I looked at him. Maybe it was something that the two older dogs taught me or something they had given me that made me appreciate this dog so much, I don't know and don't know if I ever will figure it out or even know if I want to figure it out, I am just glad he gave me that feeling.

Watching him grow from a young pup to a full grown dog was an experience that I will never forget nor do I want to. When he was two I often compared him to a thoroughbred racehorse, lean and muscular. He would prance around the yard playing with the other dogs, his head held high as if saying look at me. I could sit there and watch him prance for hours. It made me feel proud that he was part of my family. He had so many different good traits about him. He got his dark muzzle and beautiful head from his father, he got his desire to please me and uncanny ability to jump from his mother and I think he got his playfulness and his great disposition from both of them. When I got him I was very lucky that he came from a loving and caring home surrounded by others dogs and people that gave him a great start in life. He practically trained himself even though there were times he would get himself in trouble, but I could never stay mad at him. All he had to do was look at me and I got that feeling. A feeling that maybe someday I will get again, I just don't know if one person can get that lucky twice in a lifetime.

Please don't get me wrong, I love my other dogs too and they make me feel great, I appreciate that, and consider myself lucky to have them and sometimes I feel that I don't deserve them either. I also know when you have several dogs you are not supposed to have favorites, but!!! I can honestly say that I never felt like I was treating him any different then the other boys , except maybe at the end, but he might have gotten the benefits from the mistakes I made with his older buddies or the fact that I might have developed more patience as I got older. Actually they were all probably spoiled and just maybe he was a little more spoiled then the others. I like to say that they weren't  spoiled but that they had me well trained, and maybe he was a better trainer then his buddies.

When he got sick and had to spend time in the hospital I think it was just too much for him to be away from his family and his canine buddies, you see he was never separated from us for more then a few hours, he always had his family around and that's what he liked. So that is why I feel it was too much for his big heart and that is why it broke.

Anyway I just want to say how thankful I am for having this gift even though it was for much too short a time. Oh by the way this gift, this dog, was called Ridgewood's Colt Six Shooter, we just called him Shooter, he's gone and I miss him.

Frank