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If patience is a virtue I am becoming virtuous. Any one that has had a pet knows the heartbreak associated with loosing a pet and I am no stranger to having lost a pet. Over my lifetime I have had a variety of pets and have to admit was not the best at taking care of them but I learned some where along the way just how special and precious a pet can be in ones life.

I had a mouse as a child that dried up because I forgot about him. Cats, one of which got hit by a car while I was shopping for my Mother. A turtle my uncle caught at Lake Meade in Ohio that I boiled in the sink because I thought he was cold and another turtle I found trying to scurry to safety during a hurricane that ended up in the Palm Beach Zoo. Oh yes I have had my share of animals but none like Brewster a half Maltese and half Poodle I insisted was first generation Bichon Frise. He was  the true love of my life and loyal companion and he taught me the Real meaning of patience.

I’ll never forget the day I went o pick out a puppy from a litter that was advertised in the paper. There were many in the litter and most all running around biting and chewing and playing then I noticed one of the bigger pups trying to hide his little brother under the couch. You see Brewster was the smallest tiniest little creature and surely would have gotten hurt from the rough and tumble from the other siblings. I gently pushed his big brother away and picked up the little lad and he looked at me like please take me out of here with his great big green, yes I said green eyes. He was so tiny and barely seven weeks old, but very trusting and from then on became the real love of my life.

We weathered some pretty rocky times and he was always there to lick the tears from my eyes when I cried and took delight when I laughed. We romped and played and with him I was a little girl again teasing and taunting each other. Oh how he would talk back to me and boss me around.  At night when he was ready to go to bed he would stand in front of the television and bark demanding I turn it off and go to bed and when I would hush him finally he would crawl up next to me and patiently wait till the show was over I was watching. Some times when he had to go PEE and I was watching a show I would tell him to”wait for the commercial” and he knew when the commercials came on that was the time to tell me had to go out to go. He was a very fast learner and mastered controlling me, though I always thought I was the boss, he really had me wrapped around his little paw. In 2006 he traveled with me all throughout the United States and I will never forget the first time he saw a horse while in Amish country he clung to me so tightly pressing against me as I held him while they drove by in the carriage. He got to go up to a friendly one in a field and nose to nose found out they were not out to hurt him. He never forgot. He never forgot the little Hamster he had as his Pet and mourned as did I when little Ashley died and he always patiently waited until I cared for her. Very patiently.. very patiently waited and waited always waited for me.

Once in an early visit to the Vet he picked up that Brewster had a  bad heart and probably would have issues at some point.  I always dismissed it and tried to push it out of my mind, but I always knew some day I would have to face the truth…I would loose him and last night that happened. I was lucky or maybe it was Brewster that I found a wonderful woman Vet near my home that got him started on heart medication…lots of medication and for a year and a half he did pretty well. Congestive heart failure. He began to loose weight in the last couple of months and his hair thinned dramatically and I could see he was failing a little each day. Three times a day he patiently waited for me to give him his pills and patiently I would coax him to take them. I watched to see if he ate and made sure he was drinking water and for a year and half we patiently counted the days until we would part.

If patience is a Virtue then he was the one that had it not I.  He had far more patience than I and now all I have are memories and lessons I learned. Now I have learn to be patient enough to wait until we meet again.