In Memory of Chester
1997-2008

Chester became part of our family on Mother's Day 2006. What a wonderful gift. He had a red bow on his neck when we went to pick him up at his foster home. We couldn't believe that Cowboy Chet was really ours, we were so happy. Sadly, Chester passed away on Friday morning August 1, 2008. He woke up having a seizure and was rushed to the vet. They were unable to stop the seizure and after over an hour we had to make the painful decision to let him go. Chester was our LOVE. He was a crazy, funny old man that made us laugh everyday. He always "needed " his mom and if I sat down anywhere in the house he would be right there, climbing in my lap for me to hold him. I would cradle him like a baby. His tongue would stick out (as it always did) and he would puff his lips and blow air out at me and I would do it back at him over and over again and he would just look at me with his cloudy eyes and you just knew how much he loved you. He would walk around the house looking to make sure I was home and that would make everything o.k. He couldn't see well but he always knew when he found his mom. If he was alone in a room and we were still in the house he would moan and make all these crazy little sounds just so someone would look in on him and if we didn't go over to him and grab his little face and give him a kiss, the noises just continued. But of course we couln't help but oblige him because he was so darn cute. On grocery shopping day he would be in the kitchen ready to inspect every bag. He would put his head in each bag, never taking anything out but needing to sniff and inspect each item. His vision was bad and he couldn't hear but he had a keen sense of smell and enjoyed smelling new things. He loved to sniff the fresh cut roses we would bring in from the yard, his little nose would wiggle like crazy. He loved to go to the beach and even though his legs were wobbly and getting around was a chore for Chester, he insisted on climbing over the driftwood. He reminded me of a little bulldozer plowing his way over the logs.

We have so many terrific memories of our Chetty Ray. He was 11 years old and I wish he had been ours to love his entire life. We feel so blessed as a family to have been given the opportunity to be his final home. The pain we feel in losing Chester seems like it will last forever. As time goes on it will be easier. The pain will go away but our memories of him will last forever. I would tell him,"Chetty Ray, you're the "bestest" boy ever". And that he was!

We love you Manny!
Mom, Dad, Nick, Chloe and Caroline