Author: Fred & Margaret Walsh

A LETTER TO NIPPER
MAY 20TH 2003 – OCT 8TH 2012

Is it true you’re really gone.
Because I still hear your paws
on the stairs and hardwood floors
I still hear the sound of you
breathing as you slept on the bed
And I catch myself glancing at the place’s where you always slept when we were home alone,
with only each other for company.

It is never going to hit us completely
yet that you are not here anymore
We still find bits of you in all
the rooms you played and slept in
And I still expect to see you
at the top of the stairs when I get home.
Wagging your tail because you’re
so happy as you charge down to meet me
Knowing it’s tea time and that
I will share my ginger snap with you

But then nothing happens.
And I realize I won’t hear you bark
as you run in your dreams.
Or hear your distinctive footprints
on the floor and stairs
And that I’ll never again
come home to see you smiling
at me with your big brown eyes.
I’ll never again be able
to run my fingers through your fur,
Or feel you nudge my hand
so that I’ll pet you.
I’ll never again be able
to open the door and let you
out into the yard
to use the bathroom before
we head off to bed
Or watch as you lift your feet
for me to dry them from the wet grass.

But most of all I will miss our long walks when we would sneak out leaving Mum sleeping in the bed we have just gotten out of to taste the fresh morning air and see the breezes brush your coat as it shone in the bright morning sun. These were our times.

But what we’ll miss the most
about you Nipper
Is what a joy you were to everyone
who came into your life
Everybody who met you told us
what a great and loving soul you were.
You loved everyone regardless of who they were.
No matter how much they scolded or teased you
You still loved them unconditionally
asking only to be petted and stroked.

And you know what, you’ll never
be forgotten by all those you touched.

So go play my little man until
we meet again as we know we will one day.