It's been a while ... a long while, but this is worthy of an update. Today, a dear, dear friend of mine passed away. Escort. She was a white labrador retriever, 15 years old ... her birthday was October 12th. Today, she was put to sleep. It's a difficult decision to make. No one wants to see their friends, their family go through so much suffering ... day after day ... She was blind and deaf ... had arthritis in all her joints, couldn't hardly walk a majority of the time, used the bathroom where she lay ... the chemicals in her urine was burning the fur and flesh from her backside, where she would chew herself raw. She had skin cancer, and kidney cancer. She had to be fed by hand half the time ... This has been going on for over two months now. When you're faced with this sort of decision, it's never easy. You talk with the vets, trying to find some sort of solution. You purposely blind yourself, fool yourself into believing that she'll be fine. She'll pull through. But then the reality hits you ... and you just can't say goodbye, so you keep putting it off and putting it off. Which is why my parents waiting for me to be gone to school and work before they did it ... they didn't want me to be there for it. I wanted to be ... Oh, god, how I wanted to be. Fifteen years is a long, long time ... When I think about how she was - quiet, friendly, energetic and social - then how she is now - quiet, weak, suffering ... it breaks my heart ... I don't want to let go ... I don't want to let go ... But I have to now ... She's gone ...