I found this the other day and thought I would share, I hope you don't mind.

"The Greatest Gift" by Karla M. Bertram:

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 will 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 fear rides 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.
Go find the ones who've gone before you.
You are free to leave me now, 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."

__________________


Hunter, My little Man - July 16,1998 -July 28, 2010
Trapper, My Hero - July 16, 1998 - Dec 18, 2010
Mom and Dad love and miss you, always

Tears here. That is so very beautiful... heartbreaking and comforting all in one. Truer words were never spoken. Thank you for sharing. I'll definitely be saving this.

__________________


Betty and the Dallas crew


“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.” A. France

Thank you for posting the poem, it took me three trys to finally get through reading it. Somewhere I read that time help heal the loss. I really don't know about that.
We lost three of our girls in the last two years. It still seem as hard today as all the past yesterdays.

Mike

Thank you for sharing - so touching and so very true

__________________


Kelly, Ginny, Ralph & Holly - Forever in my heart

"I miss the wagging little tail,
I miss the plaintive pleading wail,
I miss the wistful loving glance,
I miss the circling welcome dance"

We let our twelve year old Golden named Honey go to Doggie Heaven today. With heavy hearts, lots of tears, wonderful memories, we are so very grateful to have shared these blessed years with our Honey. We have a new Golden named Drake. He is a pup of twenty months. Never to take Honey's place, but a new set of memories and lots of his/our love to begin a new journey.

I am new to this site, and I know I will enjoy it and get some needed relief from our pain. Time will heal our hurt. And your tender care will help. Thanks for listening.

Goldens forever, Penny, Gordie & Drake.

Gordie,
I am sorry for your loss of Honey. Your words speak love and I know how much you miss her. I hope one day I will go to Doggie Heaven too, I want be with my Buddy.
Rest in peace sugar Honey.

__________________

9 & half short years in my life but forever in my heart http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...-my-buddy.html
"He took my heart and ran with it, and I hope he's running still, fast and strong, a piece of my heart bound up with his forever" - Patricia McConnell

Charlie could watch birds for hours and I could watch Charlie for hours too http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...n-morning.html

A very touching poem which brought tears to my eyes as I read each and every line. My loss of Rhett has been one of the greatest losses that I have ever known. Even though I desperately tried to hold on to him as long as we could, I had to let him go and be free of his pain and suffering. This was the hardest decision I ever had to make, but in a act of my final and everlasting love for him, I knew that my feelings had to be put aside and to allow him to go and be young and free again. We'll meet again at the Bridge one day.

Thank you for posting such true words of my feelings to him.

__________________





Rhett - Our "Baby Dog" and my "Little Buddy" forever

Arrived at the Bridge - 06 July 2012

This poem is so beautiful and I thank you for posting it. I sent my sweet chocolate lab Katie to heaven 3 weeks ago. She was 12 1/2 and was found to have had cancer the day before Thanksgiving. My pain in my heart has been very hard to deal with. I keep thinking back of that day when I held her in my arms as she peacefully slipped away. Just like in the poem I had promised her I would always be there until the end. The house was so empty without my sweet girl. Then 5 days after she left me, a sweet little angel named Buddy a Golden Retriever 7 weeks old came into my life. He is such a blessing and is helping me heal. I believe Katie sent him to me, she knew how much love I had for her and I should give the same love to another special friend. I will never forget my sweet girl, but my heart is once again filled with love for my little Buddy. I wish I would had seen this poem weeks ago, it is so very true. Thank you again for posting.

I just now read the post with "The Greatest Gift". Thank you for sharing that. Tomorrow is 3 weeks my Harley will be gone and the last few days have been harder than the day I let him go. Maybe the reality of it is settling in. I keep thinking maybe I should have waited a little longer, maybe he would still be here . . . but then I never wanted him to get to the point of suffering. Sometimes there just isn't a right time.

__________________
Harley
It was always about you -
Found his forever home on 3/18/07
Returned to his eternal home on 1/09/13

Thank you for sharing this poem. On November 23rd we let Oakley go - quietly and peacefully, DH and I holding and talking to him - we are still so emotional about it all but I try to focus on the fact that he did not suffer, nor did he pass alone, which is one of our fears with our fur children. I am so grateful we were given the opportunity to control the situation and to do only what was best for Oakley. We miss him so much but as the poem says, we are trying to "find comfort in our memories". Every day is equally hard and I am sure the tears will never completely stop - it is the effect goldens have on us and that is why we love them so much
Carol

__________________
Carol, Seger and our Angel, Oakley