After I had to put my precious dog down after he began to suffer from a combination of ailments and old age (17), I vowed never again to let another pet touch my heart so deeply.  I was there with him through his final moments...nose to nose...singing his 'puppy song' I made up for him when I brought him home from the shelter many years before.  (I am tearing up as I'm typing this more than ten years later)  I remember his nose growing cold and I knew he was gone.  I wailed like a banshee and didn't care how it looked or who heard.  He was gone!  My gentle, loving friend was gone and I was stunned, and lost, and missed him so very much.
   Years passed and then one day I found a feral black kitten crying piteously beneath my deck.  She was a tiny runt abandoned by her mother.  I rescued her and brought her into my heart.  Four days ago, I added a second kitten from the Shelter, so she would have a companion.  Her name is Zoey and is so full of love it is astonishing.  Someone suggested I go to a breeder and get a cat, but there is no way that would ever happen when there are so many that need to be loved....need their forever home.  I'll always miss my shaggy little dog...but I found I could risk loving again.