Click each photo for individual tributes.....

You came into my life, summer of 1985...

I had gone to see which puppy I would choose to take home. Upon arrival I had been told that you were all sleeping, tired out from a visit from another person.

Upset at not being able to see you all at play together as I was promised, I was told that the males were over in the corner, a heap of blonde fur sleeping soundly.

*I made an attempt to wake you all up but only one puppy came forward, licked my hand and went back to his brothers to sleep.

That was you AJ. The only one who made the effort seemed to say, *Hi mom*! *I*m really tired right now, I*ll see you next week*! So I marked my boy, and set off to prepare your new home.

*Now you see, after we had said goodbye to *Lassie*, it was stated that there were to be no more dogs. Although after I had learned of your wonderful breed, I set off determined to defy this statement made by *Pop*.

*The days dragged by, and I had convinced your *breeders* that it would be fine to bring you home at 6 weeks old. It was an adult household and I had the time to spend every moment with you, since you and your siblings were weaned, they saw no harm. *Finally Sunday came and we, our best friend Renee* and I set off to pick you up. I held you in my arms the whole way home, and you sat, nestled in my lap, very content.

*We stopped at Renee*s house first, so that you could meet your other new best friend *Odie*. We played a bit and then crossed the street to your new home!

This was a time chosen due to the fact that everyone would be at church, and give you time to check out your new surroundings. After you searched the house, we went outside according to your potty schedule and that*s where we were found out!

*Nan & Pop had come home to find us playing in the side yard! I can remember exactly the conversation that occurred at that moment.

Pop approached and asked, *Now who is this?!* And I boldly replied that this was, AJ, my new best buddy and investment!.* As I had great plans to make you a show stud! Pop, unsure of how to handle you, went inside and left us to play! And play we did!

I took great pride in my new *baby*. Housetraining was a breeze. We laid papers near the door and between the beds in the bedroom.

Day one, and your clean record stayed! Not once did you ever make a mistake in the house.

*I remember your first night so clearly.

We blocked the space between the beds and gave you blankets, toys and even a loud ticking clock to help you fall asleep. That apparently was not sufficient, as you cried and cried. I took you out to make sure that that wasn*t the problem and you looked at me as if to say, *We just did this, I*m not sure what you want me to do now?!* So back to bed. You were still restless, so I pulled you up into bed next to me and that did it! From that moment on, you became my real life stuffed animal!

*Our schedules worked out okay, as my early mornings taxi dispatch job, enabled us to keep you mistake free! At work, you became the joy of the office, course it was mostly just us, and an occasional walk-in customer, and the drivers, but all in all, we became inseparable. The time did come when, because of your size, you weren*t as appreciated to those non-dog lover customers and Russell asked if you could stay home.

By this time, you had won Pops heart, were housetrained, and staying home was an okay thing! This was good since my other job at the time was at an animal hospital. Working there and leary of the hip dysplasia disease, you goldens tend to be associated with, I had you x-rayed at 6 months old, when you seemed to have to much wiggle to your walk! Suspicions were confirmed and I contacted your breeder.

Sure you came with a guarantee against HD, I could get my money back after I returned you to them, but after 6 months together, that was not an option! They did split the cost of having you neutered, how nice of them! So dreams of a show career were ended! Other than that, life together was good!

Many times I would hear Pop on the phone, talking about *our* dog AJ. Funny, I thought you were mine! Dubbed the pizza king, you would appear out of no where, as soon as that nose caught wind of a pizza. Just pizza, and for that matter, just the crust! Other than that, you respected meal times.

*Understandably I would learn to share you with everybody you came to meet.

Our daily walks to the park, encountered many children, who seemed to be watching for you, as they would run out from nowhere to say *Hello* to my AJ! Sometimes they would even knock on the door to see you!

You always walked very nicely on leash, but upon arriving to the park entrance, you would always get that look on your face like, *Okay, we*re here, let me go!* And off the leash you went! Sometimes these walks were joined by Renee* and Odie, and it was my pleasure to let you run! I never did have to worry about ever losing you as I knew where you were heading.

The pond was your favorite place, next to me. One day will always stick in my mind, although all of them seem to.

This day you and Odie had stopped to check something out while we continued on. I guess you got worried and came running from behind to catch up! BAM! slammed into poor Renee*!

On her butt in seconds flat! What a time that was!

She obviously wasn*t hurt, but I*ll bet she thinks of you every time she has a sore butt experience! (and I still get a giggle out of that!)

Another time at the park, you came along on a picnic, I had planned, to impress a co- worker. Everything was great until you came out of the stream and bounded up to say, *Hi*! Both paws, leaving quite the imprint on Kelly*s white sweatshirt! Oops! Guess he wasn*t too into dogs!

Our trips were always memorable!

Countless balloon festivals*. you even liked watching the fireworks with me!

We checked out as many parks as we could. Central Park in NYC, was always a fun one! It seemed that everyone we came a crossed, (and in NYC, that*s a lot of people!) had to stop and comment on what a nice dog you were! Even other golden owners! What a blessing you were to a shy young girl.

Previous encounters with the *cool* bullies in high school, had left me with a low self-esteem. You let me see that not all people were cruel, but on the contrary, were very friendly!

I*ll never forget the time up at Lake Hopatcong. We had run into JP and he had invited me out on the boat(sorry no dogs on the speed boat). We shut you in a downstairs room, that happened to have a window, and shut his dog, in another room! Off we went to enjoy the evening. We were gone about 2 hours and when we returned, there was no AJ! Frantic, we ran through the house calling for you, but nothing! This wasn*t getting funny! Where were you?! We ran to get in the cars and check the neighborhood! I couldn*t bear to think you might have tried to go home! That would mean crossing very busy roads that took a half hour by car! Please no! Well, opening the front door to race to the car, there you were! Laying by"your" car, wondering.. *well, my cars here, she must be around here somewhere!* I*m just surprised you didn*t try swimming out to find us! Nut! You sure did love the water! When visiting Lynne and Rich in the Pocono*s, you seemed to know that if we went out the front door, it meant going for a ride. If we went out the back door, we were walking to the lake!

Zoom! You were off like a shot! Looking over your shoulder, big smile, as if to say, *Last one in is a rotten egg!*

You were always a character! We*d get to the lake and you*d already be out on the dock in the middle of the lake!

Upon seeing us you would do your best dive, and swim to meet us! What a bud! Happily greeting everyone!

I do remember one time you were not so receiving.

I was at work, waiting for Nana to pick me up. Our car had blown the transmission, and was getting fixed. Working a split schedule at the animal hospital and was going home for lunch. It was a snowy day, Nan finally arrived and we carefully drove home.

Upon arriving home, we were met with the rescue squad. They had been called, miraculously, by whoever Pop had been talking to, on the other end of the phone(he was always on the phone!). They had sensed something had gone wrong and called the squad. You, loving Pop, as you did all of us, sensed that something was wrong and became very protective of him when the EMT*s arrived. I later found you locked in the bathroom. It turned out that Pastor had come by, and since you knew him from Wednesday night bible studies,you allowed him to lock you away. I was later informed that you kept breaking out of the other bedroom! Course that door never shut well anyway. As we followed the ambulance, I somehow knew that Pop wouldn*t be coming home again to our home, but was going home to be with the Lord. Another time, a different job, I get a call one morning from Nan.

Very calmly stating, that she had let you out in your pen, under the deck, about an hour ago, but you hadn*t responded when called. But, that I *shouldn*t worry*, as she had called Lynda to come over and help look for you. Telling me that they were looking for you, up the street in a neighborhood, we never ever walked through!

Frantic, once again, I told my boss there was an emergency at home and had to leave, but should be able to be back shortly. Before I left, I called the animal hospital where I had workedpreviously, and warned them that, *if a golden gets picked up and brought in, chances were that it was AJ.* On the other end of the phone, my friend Barb, exclaims, *Oh my gosh, that*s AJ?! I asked nervously, *What do you mean, *THAT*S, AJ*??! She explained that a golden had been hit by a car, and that Doc was working on him now! Well, it did turn out to be you, my AJ, who, was lucky enough to *walk* away with minor cuts and bruises! Again, it seemed to be a case of *got to find my mom!* As it was reported that you had been picked up on the side of a busy street, which we had only recently, walked one time to get to the gym! (Car still getting fixed!) Realizing that you were not comfortable, not knowing where I was, you became a new type of seat cover! Nan had explained that when I wasn*t home, your spot went from under the coffee table, to next to the front door! She would always know when I was coming home, since you would start going nuts! Thus, my evenings at *Michael*s*, started to include you. If we got there early enough for Monday night football, we*d luck out and get the spot in front by the door. There I would leave you in the car, window open, and you*d greet all of our friends. After awhile you even lucked out and got the kitchen scraps from the Monday night, prime rib specials!

A couple of slow nights, you even got to join us! Everyone*s friend!

My new job at the Home Depot really confused you. You never knew when I was coming or going!

You continued to accompany me on horseback rides along the power lines.

The vets' had told me if you were kept fit, your hips would do okay. An aspirin here and there should work out fine. Those words seemed to be true. You LOVEDto go for walks! It seemed I had met the love of my life, and while in NJ things were fine. You even went on the company picnics! Then my love was transferred to Long Island. The time came, when I had to choose my loves. We would go and visit as much zs we could, but the drive and time wore on me and so I made the decision to get an apartment on the Island. I had no luck in finding an apartment that would allow dogs. Even a great one such as yourself! So I sadly, left you home with Nan, and promised to visit. You never lacked for attention!

Time went by and we consolidated dwellings to also include you. In no time, you picked up on Harry*s days off, and chances were, that you would be accompanying him on a morning run.

It always amazed us that you knew the difference! We then moved to a property that would include horses in our lives again! Backed up to a hugepark system, you were a happy dog! Always respective of other riders you stuck close and were never a bother to the other trail users. You became the bedtime clock, as every night at 8pm, staightup, you would get up from your place in the open dining area and retire to the bedroom. Whether we joined you, or not, you still went.

I remember trying to sleep after my accident. One night you had some itch you relentlessly would work on. Slurping forever it seemed! I got up and lead you to your daytime spot and told you to stay. Stay, you did, but the next night, it was *bedtime as usual* and that seemed okay.......until, again, you started slurping.

Once more, I got up and took you to your spot, told you to stay. From that point forward, you made no attempt to retire to the bedroom again! Even when asked! The day came for me to marry my true love and as a wedding gift to each other, we brought home Sami. With her I dreamed once again of becoming a breeder. Praying that things with her would check out! Well, at four months old, she decided to see if she could fly while chasing a frisbee! Elbow broken, lost natural gait, no show career! Well, at least, she came from genetically good stock, and could at least breed her. Hoping she*d pick up on your perfect manners, we introduced you as her mentor! Well...... getting married, having guests, buying and selling a house, and a broken elbow on top of that, leaves little time for proper socialization and training! No wonder she was a bundle of energy. I was fortunate enough to have brought you everywhere!

Our transfer to NH was uneventful. Ken had come along to help us set up and move in. You guys were *buds*! While you had to live with Nan* Ken, Brian and Sandra, would make sure you got your walks in! NH again, was fun for us as we lived backed up to the town forest. Walks galore! Again, you made friends and were titled Patriarch of our golden family. Your spot in the living room in front of the wood burning stove, will always be a memory in many minds. You seemed to be confused at times, regarding who to stay by.

If I was working in the barn, and Harry in the garage, you always had a perplexed look on your face, as if you were wondering who needed your *supervision* most! Most times you stood by me, although there were other times, when what Harry was doing, was more fun. Cutting a path in the woods, I think, would have won against a steak! Then, there were the times when you couldn*t decide, and just chose the neutral territory between the two of us!

The head greeter to all the new boarders who would come to stay with us at our kennel. Your days were never boring!

You still seemed to keep up on short rides through the woods, although one day last spring, you seemed to have fallen a bit. I thought you might have had a slight stroke, but you recovered enough to make it home. It didn*t hit me again until you started having trouble getting up. With that in mind, I kept you downstairs, and rotated the kids, to keep you company. As you seemed to get worse, we made a trip to see Dr. Lisa. You were given a new drug to try and it did seem to do well for you. Enough so that when we were to move once again, you were able to make the trip with us to Colorado. I wish you could have gotten better enough to enjoy exploring our new state, as we did everywhere in the past, but your hips seemed to just detach, giving you no choice but to drag yourself to go out.

Yes, you were still conscious enough to make the effort to go out! Even though you couldn*t join the *kids* to play in the snow, you wouldn*t ruin your perfect record of never soiling in the house! Surgery was given thought, but at twelve, and no guarantee of a painless recovery, opted not. Heck! You sur passed the original age, that the vet stated you would experience pain by! (8) I had hoped that you would at least make it through the winter, but each day I*d watch your struggle, and it broke my heart to see you like this. I would beg you each night to go to sleep and jus,t not wake up. That it was okay, to say goodbye on your own. Although it was never your style to leave me. Even after the times I had to leave you, you would never be the one to leave my side. Well buddy, I*m so sorry to say, that the time has come, for us to say goodbye. I*ve gathered the strength necessary, for me to let you run, swim and play once again. Look for Pop and Ken. They*ll be there to welcome you. *AJ*.. *Amanda*s Golden Jeremy*.... you will always be in my heart**I will NEVER forget you. `Til we meet again. . . . . . . . your best bud,

Me.

June 6, 1985 - December 12, 1997

IF IT SHOULD BE. . . . . .

(author unknown)

If it should be I grow frail and weak,

And pain should wake me from my sleep,

Then you must do what should be done,

For this last battle can*t be won.

You will be sad, I understand,

Don*t let your grief then stay your hand,

For this day more than all the rest,

Your love and friendship stand the test.

We*ve had so many happy years,

What is to come will hold no fears.

You*ll not want me to suffer, so

When the time comes, please let me go.

I know in time you too will see,

It is a kindness you do to me.

Although my tail its last has waved,

From pain and suffering I*ve been saved.

Do not grieve that it should be you,

Who has to decide this thing to do,

We*ve been so close, we two, these years,

Don*t let your heart hold any tears.