Our precious dog Bandit came to us quite by accident, or shall we say by fate. Bandit’s first owner could no longer take care of him. She got in touch with a friend of hers when he was about 6 months old who said he would try to find him a good home since he was unable to keep him permanently. Well it so happened this was also a friend of ours who had another mutual friend of ours. Anyway, this mutual friend fell in love with Bandit right off the bat but he already had two dogs and could not take on another one. Even though we had not said anything about wanting a dog he thought of us. So when we were introduced to him, we fell in love at first sight on both sides. Those eyes said: “I’m yours!! Take me home!!” There was no hesitation. He was loveable, obedient, and great with everyone. He was a pleasure to take on vacations, especially the time we took him to the beach and he retrieved his dad’s hat that the wind had blown off his head. Band was also great with all the kids, and in this phot he is shown with our granddaughter whose hair color matched his. Talk about some proud parents!!

Everything has been great until about four months ago when our full of life, energetic, playful Bandit suddenly began to slow down. After about three weeks of noticing this we took him to the vet, thinking it was probably some arthritis or joint related problem that could be treated. We were shocked to find out that he had cancer!! With the help of some medications we were able to keep him with us the rest of the year and through the holidays. He was a real trooper, wagging his tail every time we came into the room where he was, even though he was feeling worse and worse. We realized on New Year’s what we had to do, so we reluctantly set Monday, January 3rd, as the time. We were still a bit perplexed as to what we were going to do with his remains, and so we picked out a spot to bury him.

But on Saturday night, I (Joan, his mother) prayed again, but this time that if there couldn’t be a miracle cure, to show us some sign that the time was right and that we had decided on the right place to bury him. Well God answered our prayers in the Danville Sunday paper where we saw an article about Paw Prints Cremation Services. I told Raymond this is a sign, an omen. I called and talked to Sherry about our situation and she was so helpful. The details of the service was just what we wanted for him to be treated like the member of the family that he was. Plus she was so understanding listening to our story. We made the arrangements for the next day and sad as it was, I slept better that night than I had since we got the bad news. The poem “Rainbow Bridge” just sealed the deal for us and now we have him sitting in the family room watching over us, and if we still want to take him on vacation with us we can.

Thanks again Sherry and Eli for beingn there when we needed you.

Raymond & Joan M.