We brought Camille home on one of the coldest days of 2007. She was home just minutes before her 4 legged big brother greeted her with a bark. She never even flinched, I guess she was used to hearing him bark all those months in my belly. My Arthur was 16 years old at the time. People warned me that he might not accept my "other child". I never had any doubts. Arthur

was with me through many firsts. My first job, first apartment, move to new cities, my wedding and now a baby. He welcomed her with open paws. But, just days after Camille came home, Arthur got very ill. I thought we were going to loose him. It turned out we had tainted dog food and he had suffered severe kidney damage. The vet said he only had weeks, maybe months to live. Arthur had already beaten the odds by beating cancer a few years earlier. So again, I prayed and begged him to fight, to make it through her first year. He did, almost to the day. He was there to celebrate all of her firsts, including her first birthday. Just days after her birthday party, he started getting very sick. This time, I knew it was different. He wasn't going to get better. He stopped eating and there wasn't anything the vets could do. Arthur was in pain and was dieing in my arms. We took him to the vet and took his pain away. Camille is obviously too young to understand, but she knows something is different. Her 4 legged friend that she crawled with and played with is gone. She can tell Mummy and Daddy are sad, she just doesn't understand how heartbroken I truly am.

xoxo,

Tracy