Oh, how much you taught us about love, sweet boy

At the end, when he could barely breathe -- his poor lungs so compromised by they still didn't know what -- still our beloved Jasper  struggled off the gurney to come to us, into our arms, so we could cover him with kisses and all our love.  

In those final moments with Jasper, we knew so completely how much he loved us and knew he felt our gigantic love for him. We called him by all of his names, pet him sweetly, buried our noses in his fur, tried to help him to breath from the oxygen mask, felt his beautiful body under our hands, and knew that it was time.

He fell asleep in our arms, surrounded by our love, slipping away sweetly, away from his terrible physical suffering.  His brave spirit left his body at around 6:45pm on March 16, 2011 and his body stilled.

We are wracked with pain, we are utterly heart broken, we are keening and grieving his loss, and we remember with so much gratitude how much love he brought to each of us and to our family.

Long may you run, sweet sweet Pony.  You live on eternally in our hearts, hearts made so much bigger by your love.

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