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[#1]

Dear Friends,

As many of you may know, we lost our dear, sweet fur child, Eliza Jane, on Thursday night. She was with us for nearly 13 short years. My husband and I are the proud and loving pet parents to many dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, geese and even chinchillas, and we have known the sharp sadness of losing many pets to illness or old age over the years. But never has it felt quite like this loss.

You see, this little dog, was so much more than that. She was always different....always special. She was like another human member of the family...only filled with the unconditional love and patience and eternal cheery mood, that only animals have the capability of bestowing upon our lives. She was MY little shadow, in particular. She always wanted to be by my side, always in the most unassuming way. She never demanded any special attention or extra pats and treats. She was just "the one". She knew me so well. She was my source of joy and a smile on many a gloomy or stressful day. She was the one who helped me most through the traumatic experience of breast cancer surgery and recovery.

I spent many a day over this past summer with her small white paw on my arm or with her sleeping nearby or sitting with me in the garden. She helped me throughout that time and through the past 12 years, in ways that no one will ever know. That no human ever could do. She was and always will be my little love...no....my BIG love. She has taken a giant piece of my heart with her to the land beyond Rainbow Bridge. I told her to wait for me, as she took her last breath.

A couple of years ago, QVC and I created a special Eliza Jane cookie jar for my show, Kitchen Unlimited. I know many of you have it....I do too, and will cherish it even more now. It was almost as adorable as Eliza Jane herself!

She ALWAYS waited for me to catch up to her, throughout her life, or would quickly catch up to me, as she stopped to investigate something interesting in the garden as I continued past. So, I have the utmost faith that she is waiting patiently for me now, and that we will be reunited again someday...both of us young and spry and happy again. Who knows...to her, where she is now, it may be but a blink.

 

To me, waiting here, the time will pass so much slower now....the days without her never quite as bright. I will have to learn the patience she always tried to teach me. How I wish I could walk with her down the garden path again. Just once. I love you Eliza Jane. I will never forget you...not one teeny tiny thing. My angel girl. Mama's shadow. Rest now and be at peace.