He's Gone

This evening around 8:20 PM I said goodbye to my best friend. We have shared so many things. He was there when I had my first serious breakup and broken heart, he was there when I moved to Kentucky and left all I knew behind in South Carolina (except for him thank God!), he was there through tough college times - there to share my joys, there to catch my tears when I was sad, there to spoon when I felt lonely, there for the multiple 10 hour long car drives from Murray to Charleston and back, there when I got my first job, my first apartment on my own, there when I met the man I would marry, there when I bought my first home and there when I brought my first baby home. Wow - the memories. We have played catch countless times, hung out in various yards for hours on end, we have jumped in and out of waves on the coast, we have run countless miles together in numerous towns, and the list goes on. He has befriended everyone he has ever met and he has alwas been fiercely in love with me and protective of me. Sounds like an incredible best friend, huh? He was. He was also the best dog I am sure I will ever know or have. There will never be another Hampton. I will miss him so dearly but I take comfort in knowing that I finally knew today - it was time.