When you give you heart to a dog to love, you can be sure it will break sooner or later. Some dogs will die way before their time and that truly breaks your heart, while others linger long after their time and you nurse them and try everything in your power to make them comfortable, so it is never easy. But to lose a borzoi before its second birthday to a tragic illness is devastating. Fifteen years ago, we lost our beloved Opal. The hand of God came down from heaven. He took her away and made her His own. I have to wait until I die to see her again. Her absence weighs heavily on my mind, especially this time of year, since it was the day after Christmas that Bob and I met her at the home where she was whelped, at Raynbo, the beautiful home and kennel of our friends, the Zuckers. It is a mystery I must live with every day, but it is not for me to question why. I can never stop loving her! The pain of losing her never abates. Having lived through that, I can accept anything now, nothing matters. For life, I say, “Bring it on, I can take it!”