Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I might lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when the sound of your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.

Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, my friend, when I am very old and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see to it that my life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands. - Unknown Writer

Thoughts...

No other friend besides Kindra ever knew exactly what I expected from her. Every day she would go to and from work with me. When Susan would call and want to have lunch with me, I would simply drive Kindra home and open the car door. She would hop out and simply go through her doggy door without me saying anything. She knew I would soon return. --Dad

Kindra knew so many things, especially how to communicate. All we had to say was, "Do you want to go to the spa?" and she would run so fast to the door that nothing could stop her. Hearing, "Romeo's outside!" would spark another mad dash to the window or door where she could see her boyfriend from next door had come to visit. And at the end of a long day, she waited to hear, "Let's go to bed." when she would lead us up the stairs only to have dad goose her half way up. --Mom

I loved to kiss Kindra right on her nose between her two eyes and then again under her ear. Her tail would wag and she would know just how much she meant to me. --Mom

I miss every night hearing a little tapping sound all around my room and the bathroom when Kindra would come in and steal tissues or crumbled papers from my garbage to tear them up. I would find ones she had hidden all around. --Preston

I miss Kindra at night, just after I would go to bed, Kindra would come inside my playhouse bed to check on me and look for tissues. I miss giving her treats in the mornings and hearing her scratch on a door anytime I closed one. --Brooklyn

Kindra's Favorite Things:

• Tearing up tissues
• Breakfast--Cream of Wheat and bacon leftovers -- mom always made more than enough
• Laying in the office under dad's feet or by the door
• Going to the drive-up windows at restaurants
• Going out to the spa
• Playing with Romeo from next door
• Walking on top of whatever you were doing so you would pay attention to her
• Going out to the office
• Trying to beat dad to lay on mom's tummy in bed and get rubbed
• Growling at Brooklyn, even though she loved her
• Playing with froggie when she was young
• Taking family pictures and getting in every picture -- she was a great poser
• Doing her tricks which included: jump high, play dead, roll over, crawl, holding food on nose then catching it, turn around, stay, lay, go back
• Going in the front door at Rick and Gayrene's every morning to get a snack
• Waiting in the dining room for us to return when we left her
• Her special friends like her great dog sitter Susie Case
• Running throuh the house as fast as she could after getting a bath only to return to attack the towel
• Getting jerky treats every morning
• Being trusted to stay in the yard without a fence and never requiring a leash anywhere we took her
• Getting tacos for lunch with dad
• Laying in the kitchen anytime mom was in there cooking or cleaning
• Watching TV at our feet in the living room
• Sitting in the shade of the gazebo while we swam in the summer time
• Sitting in the sun on warm days whenever we were outside
• Walking through every construction project sniffing and snooping every trench and corner -- she was part of every project we have done on this house and every piece of furniture we built
• Staying by the food at pool parties until someone took sympathy on her and fed her
• Having her named signed on all of the Christmas present tags
• Finding her own Christmas presents under the tree and opening them
• Going into Preston's room and the bathroom to find disgarded tissues in the trash so she could pull them out and tear them up
• Sleeping under the waterbed and at the foot of the waterbed
• Sleeping on any piece of dad or mom's clothing, including their shoes
• Attacking the ice cubes that fell from the refrigerator
• Eating ice cream
• Tearing up the cardboard at the end of a toilet paper roll
• Barking at anyone who wore a hat in the house or who ran in the house
• Riding in the car on mom's lap with her nose out the window
• Laying on the trampoline with mom, Preston and Brooklyn on warm summer evenings
• Laying in the laundry room with the guennie pigs when we were gone
• Going everywhere with dad, even to work, until we had kids when she decided she needed to stay home with Mary to watch the kids
• Going to the high school with mom when she would work late nights
• Going on hikes and chasing skunks when we went camping
• Scratching on the cabinet when she wanted more food or water
• Having Preston let her our the dining room door instead of going out her doggy door
• Chasing cats or birds or other dogs and then stopping in her tracks if she got too close
• Sneaking to the neighbor's garbage pile before they burned it
• Tearing up any bags of trash left outside the door and not secured in the outside trash can
• Snuggling close to anyone who laid on the floor
• Laying on the cold tile floor beside the toliet on warm days or nights
• Going to public places like parks to sniff and explore
• The ramp dad built her to get on the bed when she could no longer jump up herself
• Being a part of anything that was going on from company to parties to projects
• Getting really, really, really excited when we returned from a trip. She would run through the house between the office and the living room as fast as she could whining and crying with excitement