My parents and I brought Rosie, our (at the time) 14 year-old chocolate lab in to see Sara at a local pet store. This was my Christmas gift to Rosie—I had recently had a friend bring their dog to Sara and after hearing what they had to say, I was skeptical but curious. No one was more skeptical than my father. Rosie was our pride and joy. We all knew she was getting older and we did not have too much time left with her. I wanted to get her to Sara so my parents and I could make sure she was still living a comfortable life. Rosie never met a human she did not like—certainly not one with hands to scratch her! She was smitten with Sara instantly. Going in to this we had said we would not ask specific questions—we wanted to see what Sara could tell us. We were absolutely blown away. When we asked Sara which couch Rosie preferred—there were numerous that she’d switch between throughout the day—she told us Rosie liked the one in her “bedroom” but wanted us to open the curtain once in a while to let some light in. (We always kept the curtain shut in the den because Rosie was usually the only one going in there.) We asked Sara if there was anything we could give Rosie to make her feel more comfortable or happy. Sara said that the heart-shaped dog treats my father occasionally gave her were her favorite. (The dog treats from the store down the street he picked up every now and then to surprise her were heart-shaped.) Most significantly, Rosie wanted to tell us that the picture of our family we have on display is her favorite and that she felt that she was with “her gang”. We instantly thought of our family portrait hanging in the kitchen that has Rosie front and center, grinning from ear to eat with her tongue hanging out. It has been over a year since this happened so I unfortunately cannot remember the other miraculous things that Sara was able to tell us, but we all left as believers… including my father. We had to make the difficult decision to put Rosie down in June 2011 after 14 wonderful years as a family. One thing we are so incredibly grateful for is that we were able to meet with Sara before Rosie’s passing. We knew that the time was coming, but Sara was able to help us feel more confident that Rosie was just as happy and healthy as the day we had brought her home. It has been an extremely difficult year since we lost her, but our visit with Sara brought my family peace of mind. Not only can we smile at our memories with Rosie, we can also smile knowing that all of those times we looked like “crazy people” talking to our beloved four-legged friend, she was right there, talking back to us.

Ashley

March 2012