Katie here.  I want to tell you about a very special dog named Norwood.  Every morning he and his mom went out for a run or a walk, and they posted the weather report from their hometown and a picture of Norwood being…well…Norwood.  No matter what kind of mood my mama was in, Norwood always made her feel good.  He had lots of special skills and one of them was making people smile.

My mama and lots of other people called him Dude for short because he was such a goofy guy.  And fun.  And very very happy.

Tragically he had to go to the Rainbow Bridge last week, way before his time.  It wasn’t anything anyone expected, least of all his mom, and now people all over the world are all weepy eyed.  Mom cried all day at work on Thursday; she just told people she had a cold, cause how can you explain crying over a dog you’ve never met?  But that’s Dude for you, brightening everybody’s life every morning and leaving a big gaping hole now that he’s gone.

Norwood and his mom ran trails in the woods.  In the winter his mom wore snowshoes and the Dude wore his boots.  He loved loved loved running in the woods.  So after he had to go his mom asked us all to take a walk in the woods to honor Norwood.

And yesterday that’s just what my mama and I did.  It was a beautiful warm sunny winter day with blue skies and white snow.  Norwood would have loved it.  We walked along a packed trail between the towering trees  listening to the silence.  And we thought of Dude and how he’d be running back and forth ahead of us, just grinning like everything.   I didn’t once pull any of my princess tricks, we walked in respectful silence most of the time, and just enjoyed being together.  I even did my special running recall in honor of the Dude.  And because my mama had treats.

Mama says we’re glad we went out to the woods to think about Norwood.  He will always be a very special dog and we aren’t ever going to forget him.   We won’t forget his goofy grin, and his multi colored boots or his florescent collar.  We won’t forget how he loved to go on adventures and how much he loved his mom.  And we won’t ever forget how lucky we were to know him just a little, here on the internet.  We know we didn’t know him as well as some people that got to meet him in person, and certainly not as well as Debi, his mom, but still weren’t we lucky to enjoy him while we could.  My mama’s heart is breaking for Norwood’s mom and all his special friends.  I know when it’s my time to go to the bridge he’ll be one of the first dogs I’ll look for, cause he’s just so much fun.

Until then I will think of the Dude every time my mama and I take a walk in the woods.  Right now I gotta go comfort my mama.  She’s getting all weepy eyed again.  The Dude can do that to a mama.  Anyway, don’t worry about your mom Norwood, everybody’s sending her lots of hugs.  We’ll look out for her, just like you did.  You run free Dude.

Man, we’re going to miss you.

PS:  The pictures of Norwood were taken by his mom, Debi Horvath.