He was always just so very glad to see ya,

But when you were ready to leave, he never wanted you to go.

He loved to be touching some part of you,

Just his own way of letting his love show.

He’d jump up on the couch and sit with you

Whether or not you wanted him to

Nobody seemed to mind

Everyone knew he was kind

And everyone was kind back to him,

an automatic reaction - a whim -

…everyone knows how we love him so and how he loved us back - the bond between the 3 of us cannot compare to anything - will not compare to another.

This January, Rudy couldn’t walk due to arthritis of the spine. Modern medicine, our love and support and the love and support of our caring neighbor Allen, (who helped me lift Rudy and take him outside when Ken was traveling) helped Rudy walk a bit for about 3 more weeks. Then, all 4 legs went down again and all the medicine, physical therapy, love, support, care, prayers and hopes failed. His spirit remained as it ever was until his last days, when his sweet body began to break down and we chose to be by his side when he slipped away and went to sleep. Our lives are changed forever and our hearts are broken. Our home is filled with a deafening silence and a lonely void.

…we were always so very glad to see him, but when he was ready to leave, we never wanted him to go.

Rudy - June 2, 1991 - February 17, 2006 (14 years 8 months)

(aka: Rudz, Roo, Roo-Roo, Arty, The Boy, Baby, Mum-Mum’s Baby Boy, Buddy, Sweet Boy )

AKC - “Mama’s Boy Rudy” was pick of the litter. His parents and grandparents were all AKC registered champions. He hated mushrooms. He loved vanilla ice cream from Dairy Queen and Budweiser. He lived for the weekends to take walks with Ken and he loved going on Jeep rides Sunday mornings to get the newspaper. He never bit or disliked anyone. He was Mum-Mum’s ‘Angel Boy’ an eerie nickname that just came out one day in January. You could always count on seeing him in the window waiting to greet you when you visited. He has left paw prints on all of our hearts.