Where the Red Fern Grows

On August 27, it was a year since we had to put Shadow down.  It was a horrible time for all of us.  Shadow was my first "official" pet.  My sister had fish and a couple of cats growing up, but Shadow was my first dog.  We rescued him from a shelter when TJ was a year old.  They told us they thought he was one or two at the time.  We had him for 12 years and so that means he would have been 14 when he died.  We were so lucky to have him for that long.  But, it meant saying goodbye so difficult.  The kids continue to talk about Shadow all the time.  After we put him down, a lady that works with Randy was really worried about us and especially the kids.  Randy was telling her the story of  Where the Red Fern Grows.  Can you believe that she had never read it?  Anyway, she was so touched that she special ordered a Red Fern to put at Shadow's grave.  We planted it last September and thought that it had died.  When Spring came this year, it came back as strong as ever.  We all had a difficult time leaving Shadow at our old house.  TJ was determined to bring him with  us.  We shed many tears before we moved!  Shadow will always be in our hearts and we know that he is in heaven with Grandpa Haws playing catch!