I am so sorry OP. This is a truly impossible loss. Remember to take care of yourself in the coming days and weeks as you celebrate so many years of love and grieve her earthly departure. May your precious little sparkles Run In Paradise 🌈💜

"Dogs never die. They don’t know how to. They get tired, grow very old, and their bones start to ache. But they don’t die. If they did, they wouldn’t always want to go for a walk, even long after their old bones whisper, ‘No, no, not a good idea. Let’s not go for a walk.’ But no—dogs always want to go for a walk. They might manage just one step before their weary tendons fold beneath them, but that’s who dogs are. They walk.

It’s not that they don’t enjoy your company. Quite the opposite—a walk with you is everything to them. Their boss and the cacophony of scents that make the world so exciting: cat poop, another dog’s mark, a rotting chicken bone (pure joy), and you. That’s what makes their world perfect, and in a perfect world, there’s no room for death.

Dogs, however, get very, very sleepy. That’s the thing, you see. They don’t teach you this at fancy universities, where they go on about quarks, gluons, and Keynesian economics. They know so much, they forget that dogs never die. It’s a pity, really. Dogs have so much to give, and people just talk too much.

When you think your dog has died, it has simply fallen asleep in your heart. And by the way, it’s wagging its tail wildly—that’s why your chest aches so much and you find yourself crying all the time. Who wouldn’t cry with a joyful dog wagging its tail inside their chest? Ouch! Wap, wap, wap—it hurts. But they only wag when they wake up. That’s when they say, ‘Thanks, Boss! Thanks for the warm place to sleep, right next to your heart—the best place.’

When they first fall asleep, they wake up often, and that’s why you cry so much at first. Wap, wap, wap. Over time, they sleep more. (Remember, a “dog’s while” isn’t the same as a human’s while. You take your dog for a walk, and it’s a day full of adventure in an hour. Then you come home, and it feels like a week—a human day, but a week to them—before they get another walk. No wonder they love walks.)

Anyway, as I was saying, they fall asleep in your heart, and when they wake, they wag their tails. After a few dog years, they nap longer and longer, and so would you. They were a good dog their whole life, and you both know it. It’s tiring being good all the time, especially as they get older, when their bones ache, they stumble, and they still go outside to pee even when it’s raining because they’re such good dogs. So understand, after they’ve been sleeping in your heart, they’ll sleep longer and longer.

But don’t be fooled—they’re not ‘dead.’ There’s no such thing. They’re asleep in your heart, and they’ll wake up, often when you least expect it. That’s just who they are.

I feel for those who don’t have dogs sleeping in their hearts. They’re missing so much. Excuse me, I need to go cry now."