One day in the spring of 1993 I came home from college to find a surprise, there was a new puppy my parents brought home. You were a puppy named Toby, a baby Yorkie! We quickly became friends and over the years had lots of fun. You used to try and catch animals on the television screen.. lions, tigers, and bears... oh my! Those little feet tried to pick them off the the screen as fast as they could. You used to try and catch the light beam from a flash light. You would run upstairs at night push your Mommy's and Daddy's bedroom door open and lay in your little bed, right next to your mommy. You would jump up on your mommy's lap as she sat on the recliner, then you would ask her to put up the foot rest so you could lay on it. Sometimes your little feet would stick down thru the spaces and I would play a game with you. I would tickle your little toes and you would look down to see who was doing that. When you ate you sometimes played a funny game with your food dish, pushing it left and right while growing at it between each little bite. A few years later as you turned five we noticed you started drinking to much and wanted to go outside too often. We noticed one of your little eyes looked funny. We then found out the bad news from the vet .. you .. you, poor little Toby had diabetes! Your mommy and Daddy thought that maybe you should go to be with Jesus, that losing your eyesight would be too much for you and they did not want you to suffer. I, your brother talked them out of it and told them to give the vet a chance. Well, you needed two shots a day but you never seemed to mind. You were a little soldier doggy who adapted to your loss and found his way around the house anyways. You were always happy dispite your loss of sight. I could never fool that nose, you always knew when your brother was making something yummy that silver box that beeped when the yummy was ready. You would bark and bark, that ment "I want some of that too"! We never stopped playing tug of war together, even years after you went blind we still played that. Oh, that's right.. you had a doggy brother named Eric. You and Eric loved car rides. You provided Eric company well into his later years of life, till one day in the spring of 2002 Eric found a new home with Jesus. You were alone now as far as having no doggy playmates. But you still had us! I moved away before that in the fall of 2000, I wonder if you and Eric missed me. Did you wonder where I went? I would come home now and then to be greeted by you, your little tail moving as fast as it could. I had another doggy named Rusty where I lived, and in the fall of 2002 I moved back home full of sadness as I no longer lived with a lady and her little boy who both I loved so much. You kept trying to chear me up! :-) Well, I never saw my other doggy much after that and don't know where he is anymore. :-( But I still had my Yorkie brother! TOBY BABY!! Around Christmas of 2004 we noticed someone started to have problems finding his way around the house. :-( I knew my days with my brother were drawing to a close. On Sunday morning ( 1-23-05 ) you started to bark in pain and you would not eat or drink, what? My baby brother did not want yummies? You could no longer go potty. You shook and barked in pain! I could not bear to see my Toby suffer! On monday came the dreaded day that you would leave your beloved home for one final car ride to the vet. I tried to hold back the tears as your mommy held you wrapped up in a blanket. As you layed on your mommy's lap in the car you grew quiet. You started your journey to the rainbow bridge, as the vet looked you over she said you were out of it. She still found a heartbeat but you had fluid in your lungs and your temperature was low. She asked your mommy and I if we wanted her to try and treat you. She said you still might not live. Your mother and I looked at each other with sadness and decided it was time to let you go and say the long goodbye. As your little body layed on that table I said "I love you Toby" as I pressed my head against you and sobbed, the vet said with sadness "I'm sorry". I kissed your little head one last time and rubbed you as I said my last goodbye. I turned around and walked out of that room with tears all over my face. That was one of the hardest goodbyes in my life. I could not hold back the tears as we drove home without you! We returned home to a house that seemed empty. My baby brother was gone! He went to the rainbow bridge and Jesus watches over him for us. Toby, I prayed for you and asked God to take care of you till one day when I leave this earth I will find my baby brother Toby with all of the other animal friends of my life waiting to greet me home too! Now as I sit in front of this computer two days after you went to your eternal home this house is not the same. No doggy laying next to me as I type this, and no baby Toby asking for a treat. For the first time in decades this house has no doggy living in it. It might have another in the future but I can not share my love with no other doggy yet. This was your home, and it will always be your home in spirt. No matter what I do in life you will always be in my heart, my little hero Toby. The little dog who went on living in happyness dispite what he had against him. I LOVE YOU TOBY! Your mommy, daddy and I miss you!! RIP Toby Betz Spring 1993 - January 24, 2005 ( 1-26-05 )
