YOU CAN SHARE MY WATERBOWL

I want to say farewell to sweet Maggie. She was found as a stray several years ago and turned into our rescue. She was older and had limited vision, but she was the love of life for her parents. She was in congestive heart failure and died last week. Rest in peace, sweet Maggie.
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A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. (That's Starlight-- she wonders why I brought in ANOTHER foster dog-- Poochie, below.)

He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble.

At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch, and the street that led to the gate looked all shiny. (This is Zack, a new foster dog.)

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?' 'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked. (That's Caleb, getting into an empty popsickle box.)

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open. 'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked. 'I'm sorry; sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. (That's Cranberry, on the dining room table! I did a blog with this picture. It was so cute, I had to use it again.)

There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. 'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?' 'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.' (How many people does it take to groom one dog? This is Snowflake/Sabra being groomed by Amee, me and two others. Who got wetter?)

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog. 'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man. They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, and then he gave some to the dog. (This is Jazzy-- she's now the sister to one of our foster dogs, Zack. She's going to teach him some things-- or will he teach her?)

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered. 'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.' 'Oh, you mean the place with the shiny streets? Nope. That's hell.' 'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.' You are welcome at my water bowl any time!
WHAT WOULD HEAVEN BE LIKE WITHOUT OUR LITTLE FRIENDS?!