Guest blogger Ann here.

I’m popping in here to say thank you for all the kind words. This has been a more difficult time than I ever imagined, but Stamper had a plan which will unfold in the coming days.

But first, one last tribute…

It’s amazing that one little dog could affect so many. Did you know that he’s written over 4,000 blog posts? YIKES! He had a lot to bark about.

I left out one story yesterday – my husband’s favorite.

We were driving over the Grapevine to a Stampin’ Up! event in San Diego. (That’s a small mountain range just north of Los Angeles.)

I was driving and a county sheriff was following me. He’d go from side to side and eventually came up on Cecil’s side of the car. I was concerned but knew I hadn’t done anything wrong.

He motioned for my husband to roll down his window. Once we figured that out, the sheriff yelled “My wife loves your dog!” and then later “Do you have a catalog?”

YIKES! Unfortunately, I didn’t. By the time I was going to pull over, he went to assist another sheriff. I regret I never found how who he was, but it was my husband’s favorite story.

We’d like to thank a few people who have helped us over the years:

  • Gail who used to come in the morning to take him for boarding when I was out of town at a Stampin’ Up! event. Then his favorite huMAN would pick him up after work so he wouldn’t have to spend the night or be alone. And then she’d do the same thing the next day.
  • Our neighbor Debbie & her daughter Megan who would come let him out if we were unavoidably detained.
  • Cindy who never complained when he drew blood that one time and came to see him yesterday. (Best tail wag I saw that day.)
  • And to the rest of you who stepped in as door monitors at stamp events (& wished I had a doggy door).
  • Bonae who helped me get him in the first place.
  • Dr. Vetri who was his vet almost all of his life.
  • Dr. Powers & Lydia who were so kind at the end.
  • And all you kind fans who were keen to know how he was doing and liked seeing him in his director’s bed.

Here’s the last home picture we took just before we left for the vet’s. Even though it was in the ’70’s, we had the fire going for his comfort. He was sleeping, but his eyes popped open as soon as I pulled my phone out. He was working to the end!

Don’t be a stranger! He’s still got many cardmaking ideas to share!

Ann