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<DIV>At holiday times (sorry, "howliday" times), our thoughts turn to family,
and to gratitude for how we've been blessed. While I'll be celebrating in
person with my relatives and friends tomorrow, I'll also be celebrating in
spirit with all of you, my Daily Drool family, the family of my heart. I
will be thinking with thanks and joy of how you have truly blessed my
life.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You are wonderful people. Warm, funny, caring, generous,
loving. Those extraordinary gifts, which you give so freely, extend to
both your four-legged and two-legged friends, and I'm lucky to be held in the
embrace of your friendship.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I can never express enough how much your outpouring of support and
understanding meant when I lost my two precious babies Duchess and
Blueberry. You were there all through Blueberry's illness,
when she fought so hard. You were with us every step of that brave,
heartbreaking battle. And then you were there for me when she left for the
bridge, and you helped me to breathe again when I thought I couldn't; you helped
me to trust that I would get through the shattering grief; you helped me to
remember the joy of her little life, and not be lost in the darkness of her
loss.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And just a couple of months ago you were there for me again, in strength
and in love, when I was caring for my friend's Emma (Blueberry's Mom), who I had
also known and loved since literally the minute she was born in my friend's
living room. Karen was on vacation and Emma was with me when she
suddenly became catastrophically ill -- you counseled me as to what to do (Karen
had said not to call her) when I couldn't think clearly. And once again
you swept in like cushioning angels to protect me from the terror when sweet
little Emma died in my arms in bed in the middle of the night.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Those are the dark times, made bearable by your light. But there are
joyous times, too -- the sharing of your stories about silly new puppies, or
health battles won, or just the daily quirks of our basset babies -- each one
unique and new, and yet each one so familiar to all of us who love them that
they make us smile.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What would I do without eagerly scanning the digest every day for updates
from da Brudder and Elder Clara, the Tailpipe Queen; Nigel & LLewis, Esq.,
Cnly & Mr. Cooper Sir; and our sweet Bobby, Chick Magnet and King?
What would I do without the precious two-legged friends I've made, those
remarkable mompersons and dadslaves who I've never met but who I feel I know
even more deeply than some of the friends I see all year?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Fortunately, thanks to the precious gift of The Daily Drool, I don't have
to imagine. Thank you all, today and always, just for being there, for
forming this extraordinary family which -- like any family -- shares the good
and the bad, the highs and the lows, the rich rhythms of daily life.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As you watch the wintry sky for Santa's sleigh tonight, please give all of
your furbabies an extra hug from their Auntie Beth H., and know that I hold all
of you, two- and four-legged, tightly in my heart, my thoughts, and my
prayers.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>With love,</DIV>
<DIV>Beth H. (Duchess ATB and Blueberry ATB)</DIV>
<DIV>-------------------</DIV>
<DIV><EM>For Duchess and Blueberry: "You have gone ahead and nothing is
the same; leaving pawprints on my heart which will always remain." </EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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