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Salem May 4,2001-August 22 2009

To my baby Salem

It`s your 3rd birthday at the Bridge.You would have been 11 yrs old. I miss you so much and still cry when I think about you. It`s been almost 3 yrs since you left but still feels like yesterday. I know you are healthy and pain free now and will wait for me to join you forever.


Your fur brothers and sisters all wish you a happy birthday. I hope you are having fun and enjoying your Birthday with Duchess and your little brother Bounce and all your Angel friends.

I miss you my seet angel,

Love Mommy

The Greatest Gift
Karla M. Bertram, 11/23/96



I always knew this time would come,
From the very instant our eyes first met.
How I loved you then! How I love you now!
I made a promise then and I keep that promise now . . .
You will not suffer from a pain that will not heal; You will not know
the loss of a life remembered, now gone.

It is for me alone to make this decision, The price for the bright
joy and pure laughter You brought me during the time we shared.
I am the only one who can decide when it is time.
When my hope dies, and my fears ride high, Just when I need you most,
I must let you go.

It is for you alone to tell me when you are ready.
For without your guidance, I will not know When to lay my grief, my
guilt, my anger, My sorrow and my selfish heart aside And give you
this last gift, this greatest gift.
Your eyes will speak to mine, and I will know.

The pain of this moment is excruciating.
Tears stream down my face in a river of sorrow, And my heart drowns
in a pool of grief.
For you have spoken, and I have listened, And unlike other decisions
I have made.
This one brings no relief . . . no comfort . . . no peace.

For if there's one thing you've taught me, If there's only one thing
I've learned. . . .
Unconditional love has a condition after all, I must be willing to
let you go, when you speak to me I must be willing to help you go, if
you cannot go alone.
And I must accept my pain so you can be free of yours.

Go easily now, go quickly now,
Do not linger here, it is time for you to leave.
Go find your strength, go find your youth.
You are free to leave me know, free to let your spirit soar Rest easy
now, your pain will soon be gone.

I pray I will find comfort in my memories . . .
In the dark and lonely days ahead.
I cannot say I will not miss you, I cannot say I will not cry.
For only my tears can heal my broken heart.
But, I promise you this: as long as I live, You will live, alive in
my mind, forever in my heart.

So I give you this last gift, all I have left to give, And this will
be my greatest gift . . . sending you away.
It is the measure of my unconditional love . . .
For only the greatest love can say,
"Good-bye, go find the bridge, we'll meet again, Loving you has been
the greatest gift of all."

Thinking of you my baby Salem:*(

FROM YOUR PET

To have loved and then said farewell is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you have stooped and touched my head,
fed me my favorite treat and returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you......
for the care that you gave to me so unselfishly...
for all of these things I am grateful and thankful.

I ask that you not grieve for the loss but rejoice in the fact that we lived,
loved and touched each other's lives.
My life was fuller because you were there --
not as a master/owner, but as my friend.

Today I am as I was in my youth.
The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers
and the sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures.
I can run, jump, play and do all of the things that I did in my youth.
There is no sickness, no aching joints, no regrets and no aging.

We await the arrival of our lifelong companions
and know that togetherness is forever.
Companions such as you are so rare and unique.
Don't hold the love that you have within yourself;
give it to another like me and then I will live forever.
For love never really dies, and you are loved
and missed as surely as we are.

Author Ken Conover