KIPPER

Kipper is a Maltese owned by my father and mother-in-law. He is probably Little Al's best friend. I am writing about Kipper because he died yesterday. He had been sick for maybe a week. Janice took him to the vet on Sunday and the vet said he had "the worst sore throat I have seen in years". So, Kip got a couple of shots and a couple of meds to take. He looked like he was going to be OK. We had a dinner planned for Monday in Oklahoma City to celebrate Ralph and Janice's 45th Anniversary, so Janice left Kipper with Al at our house on Monday morning. This has been the usual procedure when we all go to the city at the same time. Al and Kipper have kept each other pretty good company. Ralph and I came home last night because he had to water the yard and I had to work. When I got home it was strangely quiet. Usually when I open the door there are 2 tails wagging and 2 happy dogs ready to go outside. This time I had to hollar out twice before I heard Al's collar gingle. They were in the bedroom as Janice had left them. I opened the door and Al came out just like usual but poor little Kipper was gone. I am actually thankful that Amber decided to stay in the city until today. I do not think she would have been able to handle finding Kipper like that.

Dogs are wonderful and loyal companions. We speak of ours as another child. It is very painful to lose a dog and I am very sorry for Ralph and Janice. Our family (especially Little Al) will miss Kipper. He was a good little dog.

Epilogue: I have some new news on Kipper. We found out today that he died from cancer. He had severe liver involvement as well as other areas. It looks as if he would not have made it even if we had found out what it was. That is frightening to me because he was much younger than Little Al.