R.I.P. SCRUFFY BOY!

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We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the neccesary plan....
-- Irving Townsend

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Scruffy was his own man.  There was a certain order in his life and he guarded it zealously.  He did not take to strangers all that well, but his bark was always worse than his bite.  True to his name, Scruff was a bit rough and shaggy on the outside but a real softy on the inside.  It was just that you had to prove yourself to him in order to be his friend...That's what I always liked about him.  Every time that I would see him, I would have to prove myself all over again.
 
Still relatively young at nine-years-of-age, Scruffy allowed my daughter Cindy and her family to live with him.  He also shared space in the family home with bosom K9 pals Bella and Pappy.
 
Sadly, Scruffy suddenly became very sick last week and within a few short days it became necessary to grant him one merciful last reward -- eternal comfort at the hands of a very compassionate veterinarian.
 
This has not been the happiest of Victoria Holiday weekends for Cindy, Joe, Ryan, Josh and Madison but they are bravely coping with a most unwelcome void in their lives.  Their faithful family guardian is gone, but his memory will live on as tears and sadness subside.  He was a good dog!  There will be many happy memories.
 
In the words of my grandson, Josh, on his Facebook page today:  "R.I.P. Scruffy".