In the "zone"

My brother Lou and me, we were part of the same litter of 11 puppies.  When Mom saw us, she fell in love.  She coaxed Dad to come see us with all our brothers and sisters one cold november Day almost 10 years ago. When Dad picked me up from the pile of pups, I nuzzled his chest and he was in head over heels in love with me.  I am still the same dog, and Dad loves me like no one could, except Mom. Mom says I am her favorite dog ever.  She has had some amazing dogs, so I feel really blessed to be the favorite.  She really, really loved Larkin.  Larkin was her favorite before me.  Dad says Larkin was an acquired taste.  But Mom loved her and Larkin knew it.  Dad loved Chinaco, or "shnagg-a-dog" as Dad called him, who was the perfect dog when Dad and Mom had them together.  Chinaco died shortly after moving to the house we live in now.  He couldn't do stairs because of his arthritis.  Dad loved him so much and still thinks about and misses him often.  Dad keeps his collar as a way to keep in touch with Chinaco.  Sometimes he cries because he misses him so much.

 Larkin has a special place in Dad's heart.  When Dad first moved to California he saw Mom and Larkin on the TV news.  Mom used to run with Larkin around Palo Alto even though there were bad people who would abduct blonde pretty women like Mom when they were out running even though the women just wanted to keep in shape.  Dad saw her on the TV and fell in love on first sight.  Seven years later he saw Mom at their work and asked her out to lunch the minute he saw her again.  They have been together ever since.  Larkin died less than a year after they moved  to this house where Lou and I have always lived.  She was a good dog who loved Chinaco and Mom and Dad and especially tennis balls. Larkin mourned Chinaco and then she became Chinaco, so Dad loved her just as much as him.  It was hard on Mom and Dad when she passed.  She died of cancer...

Dad says we are in the "zone" since we will be 10 years old this Halloween, and golden retrievers die between 10 and 14 years.  A golden who lives more than 14 years is like a baseball player who hits over 300 average, it is rare.  Dad loves us and we love him and Mom.  I just feel tired lately.  And there are big lumps on my body.  I hope I took the cancer away from Mom so she can live many more years as humans should.  Its okay if the cancer kills me because I have lived a long life for a dog already.  Dad promises he will keep me in his heart.  He says "If I don't think about you, who will?".  So he will always think about me just like he thinks about and remembers with love Chinaco, Larkin, Duke, Saber, and Lisa.  All dogs go to heaven...