Nancy and Larry,
 
Happy New Year.
 
We want to thank you for one of the happiest years of our lives together as a
family, for all the love and enjoyment that Maisy brought to our home.
 
And I have to share now some horrible, unfair and miserable news.
 
On January 2 we were in South Dakota visiting Autumn's family. Maisy was
staying with my other in-laws in Shoreview for the weekend.
 
Bill, my father-in-law, had been taking Maisy and her best friend --- a lab
mix named "Taz" --- to a nearby nature preserve, where apparently they ran
and played together for hours.
 
Anyway, on that day, they had just come back from one of their long hikes.
The dogs were getting out of the car for the short walk to the front door.
They live on a busy road. Apparently Maisy bolted after a car (she would
always chase them there, but *safely* from behind the huge fence in their
back yard, she obviously didn't realize how exposed she really was now from
outside the fence) and was struck by another driver. He did not even bother
to stop.
 
I received two calls on my cell phone from Bill, first saying that Maisy was
still alive and being taken to the vet, and the second saying she had died.

I'm going to speak personally now, not for the family. Maisy had truly
become my best friend.

I ran with her at least once a day around Lake Harriet. She had reached the
point where she now far surpassed me in stamina, as she always did on speed.
We had great fun chasing after each other competitively.
 
The running was at night. But every morning, I took her to the "dog park"
near our house (a small grove between the two lakes) where she would run in
great circles, tossing up snow with her nose and chasing after me to nudge at
my legs.
 
I had just finally gotten her to understand about fetching sticks, and we'd
been starting to do that every day.
 
Sometimes I also took her for walks into our little village in the morning,
to the bread store, where she always got a piece of fresh-baked bread.
Everyone knew her by name and we grew quite accustomed to the daily
complements on her beauty and exceedingly sweet nature.
 
At nights I would come home to her warm greeting and, after a good 15-minutes
of catching up, we'd all spend the rest of the evening together, Maisy
following us around the house as we went through the night's activities,
including joining us for story-reading time with the kids --- sprawling out
on the floor, her big body providing warmth and comfort.
 
I loved her so much, and I love her still. Every day since that awful day I
have felt a pain in my heart. Almost literally short of breath. I've only
just started dragging myself out to go running again. It's not the same
without her, and all the trails and beautiful spots near our house are marked
by memories of her.
 
This past year was a hard one for me personally (as you might remember, our
last beloved dog died in December of '06) and Maisy was one of the things
that made my life feel so enriched and renewed. She loved me so
unconditionally.

We haven't even collected her ashes yet from my in-laws', because I can't
bear to bury her. And that's why it's taken me over a month to tell you. I
just couldn't bear to. Her kennel is still exactly where it was. I only
just managed to put her bowls, bone and bed away a few weeks ago. The blanket
in her kennel still smells of her. Every time I see it I think of the long
stretch she would make every morning when I let her out, after which she
would bolt up the stairs for our walk.
 
Simply put, Maisy was my best friend.
 
I should now speak for the rest of the family, who loved her as I did. She
drew out the best part of my boys and I loved watching how much she inspired
caring, affection and love of animals in them. Autumn took as many long
walks with her as I did runs and faithfully brushed out her long and
beautiful coat (full of burrs because of my regular "adventure hikes") once a
week. We all had nicknames for her and pet sayings for her different traits
and activities.
 
Since the 2nd Autumn has been checking your web site every day. She finally
prodded me into promising to write to you today and ask, just nosing around,
about your latest batch of puppies.

Yes, we did see that "Maisy" made it into your list of names! Just today we
were looking at the one of her and Dawn.
 
Anyway, there's the terrible news. Life is so hard to understand sometimes.
But more than anything, I feel great gratitude to you for making Maisy a part
of our lives for this blessed year. Obviously it was meant to be, and her
spirit ----- in some form ----- is off somewhere as a part of nature again,
as she always was, bringing joy to others.

Thank you. And I'm so sorry we weren't able to prevent this horrible thing
from happening.
 
Love,
Eric, Autumn and the boys