ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS
OKATIE
The morning dawned as any other
horses nickering for their breakfast
but Katie’s gray head was lowered,
her feed untouched
she fell to the earth
and could not rise
I called for help
And help arrived. Patient, kind loving friends
without whose help I could not
have made it through this long, hard day.
I thank you for being there, for caring
for understanding, for easing the way
from hope to the realization that it was time
to say goodbye.
In Memory
The world is full of wonder. Even the passing of a tender soul such as Okatie holds such amazement in her courage and in her desire to live on.
MONROE
Monroe, you’re the best doggy in the whole wide world!
He received this message every morning as he watched us clean the stalls. Monroe loved to play, chasing balls as far as we could throw them.
A favorite thing of his was to get in every picture ever taken! Remember “Where’s Waldo?”
Monroe loved people. One Christmas, he was given a special gift from one of our tenants. It was a medal to wear on his collar which said, “The world’s best greeter!”. He wore it with pride.
Monroe was such a faithful dog and guarded the farm, walking the fence line, and following us wherever we
went with the horses. He took his role seriously. One day a horse spooked and did not know that Monroe was on the ground resting with the cat and chickens. His leg was broken, and needed a cast and total couch rest for several weeks. He became despondent and wanted above all to run and keep the farm safe. This stressful event took a tole on his health and one day we looked up from our chores and did not see Monroe! We called and searched in the barn and in the house. Now our neighbors were called and they drove on the roadside, walked through fields, and followed trails. We found our sweet Monroe laying in the small area of trees dividing our neighbors yard from ours. Monroe loved to entertain their dogs and must have felt comfortable there. He was barely breathing and his life soon left his body but never left this farm or our hearts.
It was a dark, rainy day all the while, until later in the evening, the sun presented a magnificent sunset!
Monroe, you are still the best doggy in the whole wide world!
Tuxedo-Xedo
MISSING CAT!
What is that? Life with Tuxedo (Xedo) was always an adventure.
You could depend on finding him in very odd places – deep in a closet with a view to a window, in a drawer full of clothing, and way back under the futon. He would come back from the barn covered in shavings, hay and cobwebs! Who knows where he had been? For sure Xedo was having fun
When Xedo was a kitten, our cat Token hid in the basement for days. 
He did not want anything to do with that creature! Well that all changed. They were always together. Xedo had a great friend in Monroe 
too.
Xedo’s really favorite pass time was to be near Kelsey. The day she came home from the hospital, he was curious about her and would always sneak a peak at her in her crib and playpen. Cat napping or Kelsey napping? – you decide!
This time, we found Xedo. One night, we were not so lucky. Xedo always came home, but on the 18th of October, 2015 he did not scratch at the door. He wasn’t there that night either! We put up signs, searched the woods and the roads. We called friends and neighbors – all to no avail. As we do, Kelsey misses him sooo much and does not understand where he is.
Six months later, Kelsey still asks about him, and when she rides her pony, you can hear her, “Xedo, where are you?”