1st June: Today is the day…..

Our beautiful, 14 year old furry son, Alfie, took his final walk to heaven , approx half an hour ago and I’m trying to find the right words to honour his life and our love for him…………and there just isn’t a way to cover this.

Alfie was found on the M62, aged 4 months, almost 14 years ago and came to our family because our then eldest dog, Henri, fell in love with him. We’ve always had dogs around us (and I pray we always will) but Alfie was extra special: he was the living example of ‘unconditional love’ and his purpose in life was clear: to look after Tony and I, whatever, wherever, whenever…….

when we moved here 10 years ago, Alfie came with wagging tail, big smile and the positive attitude of a soul who knows he is loved and has ‘things to do’. These have included, settling us in our lives here; welcoming many new animals to our home; watching over us through difficult times and just generally being ‘love on legs’ and ensuring everyone felt welcome on our hill….. He is the best of dogs but the one of the greatest of love stories Tony and I will ever experience……..

Today was awful for us: Alfie has been ill for years but kept smiling , wagging his tail and getting on with it. Sadly, despite the hole in his side and the new lumps appearing, the thing he couldn’t get over was loss of use of his back end – and we couldn’t watch him struggle any more.

Nikolas, Alfies vet and totally wonderful man, came with Nurse Teresa (whose heart broke with ours) and took Alf on his final walk today………

I’ll blog about Alfie so much more and make no excuse for it. He epitomises love and I wish only that all dogs were loved as much as he is and all people knew the love of a dog like that shown to us by Alfie

God speed, our beautiful furry son and know our love is wrapped around you , forever xxxxxxxxxx