Wuzzam's told me today that he had to say goodbye to his dog Sam.  I will miss Sam, we had so many adventures to share over a ten or so year span of time.  

Sam was a few years old when Wuzzam adopted him.  I believe he was between 13 and 14 upon passing, which is long for a big lab but it is never long enough for those who love them.

Having to say farewell to Sam made me realize that he was our last surviving member of the dog pound, our four-footed friends who roamed the woods of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts with us.  I reflect with sadness but also a great deal of joy thinking of, and saying a final goodbye to:

• Sam
• Tippi
• Summer
• Liddy
• Murphy
• Dusty

Sam was my dog Tippi's best friend, and the only dog she ever gave way to.  Sam was just so big and strong, Tips realized and respected that.  What a beautiful pair of animals they were as they ran freely though the woods with us.  I will remember them splashing in the streams we came across, Tippi yapping away at Sam because he fetched the stick first (or grabbed it out of her mouth).

These animals gave us a great deal of companionship and loyalty over many years.  I'll continue to think of them each day, especially when I am in the woods.  For right now, my focus is on Sam, and how happy he was whenever we came across water, and also how I'll miss rubbing him behind the ears when we finished a long running adventure.  I will remember him that way forever.

Sam on the Nipmuck, February 2016

At Pixie Falls, with Wuzzam