WORTH READING 15 Mar 2005

Forever Rocky

One gray morning I took the day off from work, knowing that today
was
the day it had to be done. Our dog, Rocky, had to be put to sleep.
Sickness had ravaged his once-strong body, and despite every effort to
heal
our beloved boxer, his illness was intensifying.

I remember calling him into the car...how he loved car rides! But
he
seemed to sense that this time was going to be different. I drove
around
for hours, looking for any errand or excuse not to go to the vet's
office,
but I could no longer put off the inevitable. As I wrote the check to
the
vet for Rocky to be "put down," my eyes welled with tears and stained
the
check so it was almost unreadable.

We had gotten Rocky four years earlier, just before my first son,
Robert, was born. We all loved him dearly, especially little Robert.

My heart ached as I drove home. I already missed Rocky. Robert
greeted me as I got out of the car. When he asked me where our dog was,
I
explained that Rocky was in heaven now. I told him Rocky had been so
sick,
but now he would be happy and be able to run and play all the time. My
little four-year-old paused, then looking at me with his clear blue eyes
and
an innocent smile on his face, he pointed to the sky and said, "He's up
there, right, Dad?" I managed to nod yes, and walked into the house.
My
wife took one look at my face and started weeping softly herself. Then
she
asked me where Robert was, and I went back out to the yard to find him.

In the yard, Robert was running back and forth, tossing a large
stick
into the air, waiting for it to return to the ground and then picking it
up
and throwing it higher and higher each time. When I asked what he was
doing, he simply turned and smiled.

"I'm playing with Rocky, Dad..."

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