One and a half years after Taco's death, I still had not found another dog. But when I had to call 911 when my mom passed out, I though to myself - "I want a puppy."  I went out the next day to look. I ended up bringing home a mini, long-haired, chocolate brown dachshund. I called him Sami.

I had always thought when I first got Taco that she would help me through my mom's decline. Instead, she helped me understand grief - which helped me face my mom's eventual passing. But it was Sami who saw me through the sad inevitability.

He was and is a perfect companion for me. But I call him "handsome but headstrong".

I  wrote this poem about Taco right before I got Sami.

It's hard to let it fall away

Whatever was the norm

The changes life can put you through

As you your new life form

The landscape's less familiar

Until you accept it's not the same

New options feel peculiar

What once was will never be again

Unless your memory holds it clear

In some secret place within your heart

Where love burns like the eternal flame

A light within your present dark

Just as darkness precedes the day

Your life will lighten once again

Your life will soon recommence

New vantages to gain

At some point  memories arise

And sweet the past does seem

And you recall that life again

As if it was a pleasant dream

PFK

9/04