A Tribute to The Very Best Dog!

Words will never be enough to describe our relationship with our sweet, little dog Millicent. She came into my life and changed it completely. If it hadn't been for Millie, there wouldn't be a dog photography business. Through thick and thin, our little dog Millicent has been our constant companion and dearest friend. She helped write stories, gave us inspiration and kept us laughing even when the going was the toughest. Millicent lived in Dallas with us for eight years.
	In the begining of her ninth year, we moved to North Carolina where Millicent finally had a beautiful field to play her favorite game of "tenis bal" every day. From May through August, our little girl lived blissfully, playing ball, snuffling birds along the hedgerow, sitting in the shade of a large Maple tree as her ears danced in the breeze and enjoyed her status of Queen in our rambling new home. Then one day as I was grooming our darling, I discovered the dreaded lump in her belly. If you have ever had this experience, then you know what kind of fear it strikes in your heart. We took Millie to the doctor and of course, it had to be the worst news. Millicent Most, "the People's Choice" had liver cancer. She had surgery and soon recovered to a quiet life filled with snacks, tennis balls and constant love but by late November the cancer had spread and we knew it was time to end our dear one's suffering. On November 29, 1999 at ten a.m. our sweet blue roan angel died in our arms. She fell asleep with a tennis ball by her side and we cremated her body so we could always have her near-by. Do you believe in miracles? We do. On Christmas Eve 1999, I was sitting on the living room floor of my sister's old home with her solid black Standard Schnauzer, "Jazz" on my lap, watching as my three year old niece played with a puzzle across the room. Suddenly, my niece looked up at me and began to giggle, saying "silly Millie, hey Millicent what are you doing you funny dog?" I responded to my niece saying, "you know that Millie is in Heaven, what are you talking about this isn't Millie, it's Jazzy" and my niece replied, "Aunt Kerrin, that's not Jazzy, that's Millicent next to you and she's being silly." And then, my niece began to laugh again.
Yes, our beloved Millicent had come to us on Christmas Eve. Her Christmas gift to us was to tell us that we do survive death and we can visit our loved ones. We know that our Millicent is free from pain and happy in the great beyond. And of course, she is still very much alive in our hearts. As our niece would say, "God please bless all the little doggies".