Dear Ragom,

Almost 7 years ago we adopted by far one of the most beautiful and nice dogs around. We adopted Griffey from you in May of 2002. He had come from a sad home, where he was neglected. You saved him and brought him back to his beautiful glory. I will never forget the day my husband and I with our young son drove to his foster home to meet him for the first time. I don't remember the family however, they had just gotten a Golden Puppy and her name I believe was Ruby.

Griffey was so friendly and kind and gentle, just a gentle giant right from the beginning. We knew he would be perfect for our family and brought him home.

He was more than perfect for our family - as our family continued to grow by more children and a cat, he was faithful, loyal, gentle, kind and loved by all.

Well, last night our beautiful boy died. I can barely type this email as the tears stream down my face. See, Griffey was the first dog I had ever owned too and every one had always told me, I was very spoiled by Griffey and would never find another dog like him. I truly believe that now....he was the greatest.

Our beautiful boy was riddled with cancer and never let us know of his pain. We had no idea our boy was suffering so much as he never let us know. Just on Sunday he was running with me and playing with the children and our baby was riding him like a horse(she is 10 months). Oh the pain he must have been feeling and he never let it show.

Yesterday morning, he couldn't get up from laying down, we thought he was just a little sore from running and from the rain moving in. We never imagined later on that day we would have to say goodbye.

He had a 12 pound tumor attached to his spleen, it seemed hopeful as they said it was only attached there and they were able to remove it. When they went to put his spleen back, they felt pressure, they looked closer and realized his body was filled with tumors all over. So, after an emotional roller coaster of ups and downs, we hit the lowest point ever and said good-bye to our beautiful Griffey.

I wanted to let you know as many of you we have run into over the years and still remembered Griffey from so long ago, he was truly a special dog. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity almost 7 years ago to have this great, great guy join our family and truly become part of the family.

I will miss stepping over my 90 pound boy every morning as I try and walk to the kitchen, I will miss my guy who never, ever, not once barked in the house, I will miss my guy who was so happy daily just to be alive and a part of our family.

You all do such a great job of placing these beautiful animals and making sure they have great homes. When our time comes again for us to open our hearts and our home to another, I want you to know we will be coming back to you for our next love.

With a very heavy heart,

The S Family
-Steve, Liza, Seth, Charlie, Lorelei, Libby, and our cat Eboe (who will probably miss him most)