Sam… in memoriam.

A dear, longtime friend of mine recently made a difficult and heart wrenching decision to euthanize his beloved pet. He is an excellent writer, and shared about his decision in the following post.

“On Saturday September 18th, I lost something else that meant the world to me. I finally had to make that awful decision to put my oldest dog Sam, to sleep. I admit it was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. With deeply loved pets, it is the ultimate contradiction: Along with the joy of ownership comes the agony of responsibility. Like anything that you love, you always know in the back of your mind that the day will eventually come when you have to let it go. Even though you know, you can never quite prepare yourself for it fully and you still can never quite say goodbye. I knew someday the day was going to come for Roxie, but I did not have to make the decision for her, as I did with Sam. Roxie passed away before I had the chance to make it. Sam was a different case. She was

All You Need Is Love

I recollect, a few years ago, having gone with a dear friend to the apartment where her former husband lived.

He had died alone.

D’Angelo (not his real name) was a retired Army NCO, whom had volunteered for service. He was genuinely a “squared away” soldier, and rose to the rank of First Sergeant (E-8), which rank is politely nicknamed “Top,” because, aside from Sergeant Major which is also an E-8 position, it is the highest rank and position a NCO can obtain.

His generosity was well-known, and his humility, honesty and genuine love for his fellow man was evident throughout his life. And though he was a good man with many admirable character qualities, a congenial fellow, well liked – even loved – by many, it seemed he never could win the battle over the bottle.

What little I know of him from others’ reports and my own limited interaction with him, he was an honorable family man. And yet, his family didn’t know it, and apparently had low regard for him because of his human frailty, particularly for the bottle.

When he had retired from the Army, never one to merely sit still and wait for things to happen, he became