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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Hi Droolers!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">I am the ever present lurker. Debbie’s story last week about finding the shiny penny and Clara prompted me to share a story about my Maggie (ATB). We lost
Maggie in October of 2011. I did write about her at the time, finding her dead when I came home from work. We were due to make a trip to
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> to see my son and his family in a couple of weeks after Maggie’s death. At the time I did call him to tell him about Mags and of course he told my daughter in law and our grandkids, however
only the oldest one Alissa who was 5 at the time really understood what was going on. Alissa witnessed the death of their dog a couple of months prior, he died from heat stroke and she was with her Mom when they took him to the vet, although too late. The
kids went out to eat the evening that Maggie died to my son’s favorite place, <st1:place w:st="on">
Rosa</st1:place>’s (a Mexican restaurant) and the girls got kids meals. Alissa found her toy in her bag and opened it and then showed it to Bob (my son). She said “look Dad, this is Maggie in heaven” Bob told me when we got down there on our visit, that
Alissa saved her toy for me until we got there. What it was, is one of those 3-D things that when you move it, the picture moves. It was a picture of a Basset, when you move it, the ears move up and down like she is flying, and the background is blue sky
and white clouds. Alissa saved that for me and gave it to me almost the minute we walked in the door. She said to me “Grandma, I saved this for you, this is Maggie in Heaven”. Out of the mouth of babes! Alissa is my special girl. It just gives me goose
bumps that she got this the very night that Maggie died. I know in my heart, Maggie was telling me she is ok and is in Heaven flying high with her ears as wings. I have it propped up against her ashes and pick it up from time to time and move it so I can
see her “wings”. I miss her so much, today is actually her birthday she would have been 11. It is weird that I would pick her birthday to write about this. It was just a whim, I have some time left on my lunch hour and felt I had to tell you all about this.
I adopted Cricket a year ago December from GABR and she is a joy. She has helped fill the void but Maggie was my first Basset and forever my best girl. Our dogs are forever present with us, and Debbie’s story and mine show us that they are.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">TC
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hull</st1:place></st1:City><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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