6/23/07 Happy Birthday Anika

Dear friends and family,

Some of you know our dog Abby very well, some of you don't. I am writing this email to tell you about her. You see, God's Word, the bible, says to rejoice with those rejoicing and weep with those who weep. Well, we are hurting right now due to Abby dying last Friday from thyroid cancer. In a way , it was a relief that she is not suffering any more, but now that she is gone, we are greiving. Maybe this eulogy to a dog is a little wierd, but she was a great dog and I would like to honor her by sharing some things about her. I am posting pictures of her on our blog at http://www.mountainsmajesty.com/SteveandConnieblog.htm

As I said, Abby died last Friday from thyroid cancer. Even though the vet said she only had 2-3 weeks to live, she lasted 3 more months, so we were thankful for that. We took her on a short hike last Sunday at Ute Valley Park, and she barely made it. That is when we knew that her time was short.

As also most of you know, Abby went everywhere with us. You see, if she sat in the car all day, that was fine with her, as long as it was "with" us. If we left her in the house, she would deliberately do something bad, so we would take her with next time. We took her on almost every vacation that we could. This included sneaking her into many hotels, and she was always cool about it.

We went on countless walks, runs, ride and hikes with her. Probably her favorite was going on a walk or run. She would follow us around the house somethimes if she thought it was time for a run and go nuts when we put our shoes on to go. She was a great running buddy, and it will be very hard to train without her.

I got Abby in the deal when Connie and I got married. I kept telling Connie that Abby was my dog, but we all knew better. Abby loved Connie immensely. She was always keeping an eye out for her and was always looking to be her protector. It was always touching to see Abby do her afternoon routine while waiting for Connie to come home from work. At about 3pm every day, she would sit at the top of the stairs or the top of the driveway and patiently wait for Connie to come home. I heard a story years ago (before I was around) about Abby getting out of a 2nd story window unto the roof of the house when Connie got home from work. She was so excited that she jumped off the roof. She never did that again.

Abby was such a gentle and loving dog. She was the "neighborhood" dog at our house in Monument. Everyone in the neighborhood would stop at our house and come over to Abby in the yard and pet her. At our new house in town, she would always be looking for the neighbors to go for a walk and tag along with them. When we would take her downtown, or wherever, with us, everyone would just come over to pet her. Especially kids. She loved kids.

Anyway, I seem to be rambling. But Abby was more than just a house pet. She was a partner when on hike and runs. She shared our rides and vacations and was apart of them as much as we were. When we go out into the public to share the Gospel with folks, Abby would always go with us an sometimes be an ice breaker to get the conversation going. She was a very easy going dog, except when being a watch dog. Abby was always on guard at the house, and I felt very secure in her "protection mode" when I was not there at night. She was great with kids and let them do almost anything to her. She loved our grandchild, Phillip. After Phillip came out to visit us, we asked him if he missed us. He said that he "missed Abby". We understood.

The one things that Abby did the best was to love Connie. She would do anything for her. Even eat something like lettuce, if Connie would offer it to her. We will miss her alot. She was so much apart of our lives that we are surprised at the loss now that she is gone. But life goes on. We are thankful for having her as long as we did.

God bless

Steve and Connie