R.I.P., Raphie. You were the most beautiful, most wonderful dog any family could've asked for. You WERE part of the family.
I only had one month left in Korea. Just one month. He wasn't a young dog, but he wasn't old, either. It was always one of my biggest worries that something would happen to him while I was here. I would give anything to have been wrong.
Part of me still believes that when I go home in late August, he'll be there to greet me at the front door, because I've been looking forward to it for the past eleven months.
I just. I haven't felt this at a loss in a long, long time.