Koda

     I know there's a movie called "All Dogs Go To Heaven" but I've never seen it. Never wanted to, and probably never will; But given recent events, I've had to contemplate the thought in great detail. My family will probably be more vocal about the whole thing than I will, but even so it's been a few hours and I have to get it out of my system. I'd love to know what dogs think about us, how they feel. I can't imagine I'll ever know. We got Koda as a puppy when I was pretty young, and I remember his nameless days, trying to decide whether to call him Scout or Koda. I guess we stuck with the latter because Brother Bear had just come out, and he kind of reminded us of a cute little bear cub. Thus his nickname was Koda Bear. He was kind of a silly dog, afraid of snakes and small dogs, didn't really like cats, but wasn't active enough to contend with them. He had a thing for squirrels. I sound like an animal lover and I'm really not, but I was a Koda lover. Still am. It's a bittersweet thing to lose a dog. I know he'll be in heaven waiting for us when we die, and maybe that sounds silly; but to me, at this moment, I don't care. I will miss him. I already do. As he was panting and breathing haggardly a couple of hours ago, we said a prayer. To know what to do, to know how to deal with his passing, and that peace would be with us if he died. I should have known it would come, he's been so sick for so long. But that prayer for peace helped. I feel comforted that something I have loved so dearly for much of my life will be with me again. I can only imagine how that must feel with family members that cross the veil once more to live with Heavenly Father again. Losing an earthly companion is challenging, but we have to get beyond this trial just like every other one that comes our way. The way I see it, better now than later.