BROKEN HEARTED

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 476

Cute as a button and smart as a whip! Our beloved little Golden Retriever puppy Nyxie Marie! We taught her how to differentiate between colors and answer yes/no questions. She achieved Canine Good Citizen and AKC Therapy Dog ratings. And she was an enthusiast who loved her walks, her “zoomers” on the beach, rolling in the sand and retrieving her ball. She truly favored us by being our pet. But the only bad thing about having a dog as a pet is that they leave us too soon. We lost our Princess, “Nyxie Marie,” to cancer – just ten and-a-half years old — and had to put her down a week ago last Thursday. And two weeks ago last Thursday we didn’t even expect that she had a problem. But then we became so concerned about her cough that my wife Grace took Nyxie to the vet, who gave her a chest x-ray which showed that her lungs were filled with cancer cells! So, to keep her from suffering and probably dying of suffocation, we put her to sleep.

But since then everyone has been so sympathetic and supportive! Thanks to them all! Notes and letters, flowers and hugs have abounded – and all out of neighborly sympathy and human caring. In addition, somewhere Grace had heard that when you lose a dog that leaves another dog behind, once the first dog is gone you should move everyone out of the room and bring in the second dog. Then encourage the living dog to sniff the departed one, which will show the second one that the first one is gone. As a result, the second dog will not continue to look around for the departed one. That is what we did with our second dog “Duke” and, somehow, Duke understood that Nyxie had left us and has not shown concern that she has been “hiding.” Finally, I recommend that we should all keep in mind the big message that Life is Short: Enjoy it while you have it. And that means that we should remember to enjoy our pets while we have them as well. We did with Nyxie – every day. But it’s still so hard! There is still a lump in our throats, and our hearts are broken!

Quote for the week: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President

Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely ssues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.