I am writing this column on a Monday morning. The workweek is about to begin and we face an excessive heat warning which some parts of the valley can reach record temperatures. This is on everybody’s minds as we head into the week but in my world my wife and I head into the workweek with a big decision we have to face and that decision never comes easy to make for anyone.

Our baby girl Daisy who is 13 and is the sweetest dog has cancer. We found this out a few weeks back and it was a blow to me but a bigger blow to Daisy’s best friend, my wife Gina. I met Daisy a little over 6 years ago and the one thing that caught my attention was that she never left my wife’s side. She would be by her side in the kitchen, the bedroom, occasionally in her lap on a car ride enjoying the breeze out the window and even on the bathroom floor while Gina takes a shower and gets ready for work. She is by her side no matter what.

The biggest memory I have and will always have of Daisy is that she would always sit and stare at me for a few minutes when I come home from work and especially from the restaurant at night and wait for that opportunity to jump on my lap and lick aggressively at my face. I would eventually stop her from licking so she would jump down and lick my legs until I stopped her. Yes, all dogs love to do this but not like our Daisy it was just the way she did it which was why this will always be the memory I will hold of her.

Gina told me stories of how she would take care of Daisy when she was real sick when she first got her. The bond between them two since was inseparable. The past few weeks Gina has been taking amazing care of Daisy. We have given her medicine to keep her strength up to eat and drink as well as feed her soft foods which was probably a nice change from her everyday dog food. There were good days and bad days but we were always hoping for more good.

This is a decision we both never had to face and that is to help her pass on and not suffer any longer. This is not a decision any of us want to face as pet owners. We all love our pets so much because no matter what they are there to comfort you when you’re having a good or bad day it don’t matter. They have that big greeting for you when you walk in the door, lay by your side while you watch tv and even by your side while you sleep. Pets bring such joy into our world and that’s why it’s so hard to let go when that time comes.

This past Friday my wife had a daisy tattooed on her arm so she will always have that memory of her best friend. The tattoo of the daisy came out great and will forever be a reminder to what Daisy meant to her. This was a last minute decision to write this column and it’s not really a column that will bring joy to many who read this but for me this is a tribute to our Daisy who is the world to us.

I will finish off this column by saying this: Daisy you will be missed so much but thank you for bringing such joy into my wife’s life as well as mine. You will always hold a special place in my heart and a huge part of my wife’s heart. We love you so much and we will never be able to replace you.