Sir Walter Farts-a-lot: Wake Me Up From This Nightmare

by Leesa Bumgarner
(Fordland MO)

I still cannot believe this has happened. It surely is just a nightmare that I cannot wake up from.

We had just had supper. I had fed you your chicken. You got so happy when you saw the box from the KFC. You sat with me as we watched TV and played a game on the iPad. Reggie walked you and you came in, walked into the den and laid down.

But you made a sound that made me look at you. I realized you were not breathing. I screamed. Did you hear me call your name? I started to give you CPR. Forgive me if it hurt. I watched your tummy rise up. Reggie put the fan on you, then I heard you take a breath. The Vet was on the phone and said you just passed out, not to worry, you would be fine.

I took you back to bed, turned your fan on as you sat there. You got up and walked to the end of the bed. There you fell over, and we started it all over again. We worked on you for 30 minutes with the Vet on the phone. I screamed at the phone "What else can I do?" The Vet said softly, "You have already done it."

I know you have been gone only 48 hours, but I'm so lonely. I looked at your food bowl and your leash hanging by the door. Your chicken in the refrigerator.

You were the best of me. When I went to find you, I waited a couple of hours for you to act like you wanted to pick me to be your friend. Kind of like when I was a kid waiting to be picked to be on a dodgeball team. I needed you so much. I had just lost my little English Bulldog. There was such a void in my heart then, just like now.

You made us laugh, like when you took training classes and I believed that they passed you because you were the class clown. When we would take you to your favorite pet hotel you would do that bully step and people would just stop to watch you walk by. Everyone would call out "Wally" and you would just smile.

My heart is broken but I thank God for the nine years you were here. You made life so much better than I could ever explain. Thank you, my friend. You will be forever missed. But I know you must go now. Someday I will come and I will meet you at that bridge and then we will be together again, and forever.