Today we lost a beloved member of our family when we had to say goodbye to Diamond. The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for us as we grappled with this decision, but in the end we know that it was the merciful and graceful thing to do; her physical abilities had declined rapidly in the past few months, as we knew they would some day, and keeping her here with us any longer would have been selfish. 
Diamond lived a very long and full life. When she came into our lives the vets said she would not live more than a year, that her disabilities or our limitations would get in the way. Since then she celebrated eight birthdays. There is no way to sum up a life so richly lived, nor describe the courage with which she lived it. Everything we gave her she gave us back a thousand fold in love. No amount of time with her could have ever been enough, but we are thankful for the years we had, thankful that she met our son, and thankful for all the love she gave us. 
The vets nine years ago could not have been more wrong when they told us we would not have the strength to care for her special needs. Keeping her alive was easy, it was letting her go that required all the strength we could carry.
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
I would walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again
