A message to Cleo and Thank You's

Cleo,

It’s Momma………

It is so hard to believe that it has been one week since we helped you with your journey to the Rainbow Bridge.  Winston is having a pretty hard time with you being gone.  He looks for in all your little hiding places, he keeps wondering why I leave and you don’t come back with me.  He cuddles with your blanket every night so he can smell you.  He sits in the back yard and stares off to space and looks at us with such sad eyes, like he is saying “WTF have you done to my life”.  I tell him how sorry I am that you have left us, but you must have been needed really bad at the RB for your life to be taken so sudden from ours.   Amiee is being strong but she has a hard time in the mornings as you are no longer there for her to bark in your face, to make sure you get up and get things rolling for them in the mornings.  Amiee is much more vocal and really speaks her mind a lot more.  Neither one will eat right know, I just hope it is their way of dealing with you being gone and that will soon change.

The house is a very different quite with you not here.  What I would give to hear that annoying bark you use to have.  It use to drive me crazy but I miss it so much know.  Cleo we want you to know how much joy you brought to our house and so glad you were able to show us the true meaning of "LOVE A RESCUE".  You presented some challenges for us when we first brought you home that day in February 2006.  You were 18 months old and had a death sentence at the shelter due to your aggression.  What the heck, a basset with aggression NO WAY.........OH YEAH, but you soon learned how to appreciate the finer things in live and learned to LOVE right back.

I would have never imagined that within 15 months we would be from 4 fur-kids to 2 fur-kids.  When we lost Tabby a year ago in June, I never thought you of all my hounds would be next to get sick and sick you were.  You had some tummy issues that we were working on then the Auto Immune Disease and then finally that horrible diagnoses on September 1st that rocked our world to its inner core.  They said you had the C-Monster and it was so far advanced that we had limited time with you.  WTF are they talking about?  You were just outside in the back yard in the 100 degree days walking the yard looking for snakes, running and playing with Winston, going for walks and golf cart rides.  This could not be possible, not my Cleo.

I pray that we gave you the best 5 years of your life while we had you, it was 5 more years that you would not have had if our first basset Precious - ATB did not lead me to start volunteering for our Humane Society.  I pray that I was able to make your last days as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.  I pray that one day I will see the sign that you are okay and having lots of belly rubs, treats and wonderful sunshine to run free in everyday.  I pray that you have found Tabby, Precious, Elliot and all the other wonderful fur-babies that were taken from us to soon.  I would pray for you to come back to me, but I just know that is not possible. 

Oh and Cleo, you would not believe the support that I have received from our dear blogville friends.  Mango/Dexter but a very nice post about you crossing the bridge.  You even have some great Cat blogging buddies as well, as CB but up a very nice post as well.   And then our dear friends over at SAS created this beautiful memorial picture for you.

 I have been overwhelmed with the sweetest comments and have yet to respond to everyone, but I have read each one over and over.  I just can't get over the support from our blogville friends that have never even met us in person, but just from reading our silly stories.   It brings us comfort to know that you were so loved by so many and will be missed by so many.  You have lots of fur-ends at the RB so just remember to play nice and mind your manners.

Cleo, please know how much you touched our lives and how very much we miss you each and every day.   Until we meet again, we will love you to the moon and back and treasure our memories of you for a lifetime.

Until we meet again, my Sweet Cleo.

Love, Momma