IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS THAT I POST THIS UPDATE ON MY BELOVED COMPANIONS OF 13 YEARS, 2 1/2 MONTHS...  MY BABIES HAVE WENT TO RAINBOW BRIDGE TOGETHER ON JULY 9, 2009. A NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR'S UNDERAGED FEMALE GAVE BIRTH TO 6 PUPPIES, BORN IN ABERDEEN, MD ON APRIL 16, 1996. FROM THE FIRST DAY I SAW HIM AT TWO DAYS OLD, I KNEW HE WAS THE ONE... NOT TO MENTION THAT HE WAS THE RUNT. WE CAME ALONG A FEW MONTHS LATER TO BECOME OWNERS OF THE MOTHER & A SISTER WHEN THE NEIGHBORS MOVED AND ABANDONED THEM!!! WE PARTED WITH THE MOTHER AS WE DECIDED TO JUST KEEP BROTHER & SISTER. THREE WAS A BIT TOO MANY IN OUR LITTLE 2 BEDROOM HOME WITH 2 ADULTS AND 2 CHILDREN. PHANTOM & MERCEDES WERE BORN, LIVED, LOVED AND PLAYED TOGETHER EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES. THE ONLY OTHER BOY, BROTHER SHADOW LIVED AROUND THE CORNER AND THEY SOMETIMES WOULD VISIT ONE ANOTHER FOR A TIME. THEN WE MOVED TO BEL AIR. WHEN OLD AGE CAME CALLING, THEY HANDLED IT WITH GRACE, BEAUTY AND WISDOM... UNTIL ONE DAY IT WASN'T SO KIND. MERCEDES BECAME INCONTINENT AS HER BACK END BEGAN TO GROW WEAK. SHE BEGAN TO HAVE FALLING ACCIDENTS FROM TIME TO TIME. THEN ON MORN OF THE 3RD OF JULY, PHANTOM TOOK A GRAND MAL SEIZURE. IT LASTED 11 MINS. HE CAME BACK AROUND, BUT IT TOOK IT'S TOLL ON HIM. HE TOOK SMALLER SEIZURES, ONE A DAY ON THE 4TH & 5TH OF JULY. WE WATCHED HIM AND FOR 3 DAYS HE SEEMED TO BE DOING OKAY, AND HADN'T HAD ANY MORE EPISODES. HOWEVER ON THE MORNING OF JULY 9TH HE AWAKENED ME BY STAGGERING AND FALLING ONTO ME SEVERAL TIMES AS I SLEPT IN OUR BED. WHEN I WOKE UP ENOUGH TO LOOK AT HIM, I KNEW IT WAS PROBABLY THE END. PHANTOM HAD A SEIZURE/STROKE AND NEVER FULLY RECOVERED HIMSELF. FOR THE LOVE & FAITHFULLY COMPANIONSHIP THAT THE TWO OF THEM SHARED TOGETHER AND THEY SHARED WITH OUR FAMILY... WE GRANTED THEM ONE FINAL WISH... WE LET THEM GO HOME TOGETHER, TO RAINBOW BRIDGE. WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF PHANTOM & MERCEDES
APRIL 16, 1996 TO JULY 9, 2009
GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN