Wiggles Blue Heeler shed his worn-out blue heeler earthly trappings at 7:14 this morning, and he was truly ready, thanking me and the two young vets that helped him, by giving us kisses. I thought I'd lose him early Friday morning, but he gifted me with 48 more precious hours, giving even as his life was ebbing, showering me with affectionate, consoling kisses.

It is not that I am less, now that he has shed this life, but rather that I am far more because Wiggles lived!
Looking around, there are reminders of him everywhere (as though I needed reminding!), but now I see and am consoled by the things he no longer needs, corners he needn't fear bumping, and all those places he once trod at a light and lightning-swift pace -- as a child's book says, "Slow down, dingo dog; you are moving too fast!"

Wiggles taught me patience, unconditional love, gravity-defying exuberant joy at the smallest of things, how to see without the use of physical vision -- because he always saw the world and everything in it, with his heart -- and how to forgive crabbiness, because his person was afflicted with occasional bouts of frustration. I pray to grow in love -- because of his teaching by example, every minute of his life -- and make him proud of what his life created in me.

All the terms of endearment encircle me, just as his presence is so near and so warm, swaddling his mommy in comfort on this vividly blue-sky day in December. LittleFoot ... Many Kisses ... Punky Brewster ... Dear, Sweet Heart ... Punkin Munkin ... PooCheeser ... The Sweetest One ... Wigglety Woo ... My Little Wommie (his first name was Wiggles Wombat) ... and so many, many more.

Thank you for your prayers for us, which have uplifted us and taken any sadness away. Silly me, thinking I'd be lonely without him. He's still here, in a form that no longer suffers.

Blessings bestowed upon me and countless others by Wiggles Blue Heeler are replete with joyful events and now, rejoicing memories. When next we meet, I'm certain that we will know one another instantly, because we each carry the other in our hearts and souls!

Thank God that He chose me to be Wiggles' person and chose Wiggles to be my dog of a lifetime. This is the best day of my life: Wiggles is no longer blind or sick. In fact, his incredibly warm and loving presence is in every nook & cranny of my heart & soul!

Julie Smithson