We Miss You, Abby!--A Letter to My Dog

Abby with her Daddy, Gerard

It is with great sorrow that we had to help our dog cross the Rainbow Bridge last Monday.  I thought about this book and the letter I wrote to our dog back in November of 2014 so thought this would be a good post to update and post again.    
 
A Letter to My Dog by Robin Layton is a happy, feel-good book that is a collection of notes from people (some well-known) to the dogs which show the value of rescue dogs.  Along with the notes are full-page photos of the dogs and in the back is a summary of the dog-owners with their dogs including smaller pictures of them together.  I enjoyed this book very much and found myself smiling all the way through.  It is a quick-read that I recommend to anyone who is considering getting a dog as well as all dog owners.  This book inspired me to write the following letter to our dog:

Dear Abby a/k/a Abby Dabby Doo or Abby Dabs,

You are the best dog we could ever have!  You won our hearts the first day we met you with your soft thick fur, your big beautiful brown eyes, your sweet personality, your curly fluffy tail, your big smile and your gentleness.  I am amazed at how well-behaved you were from the first day we met you.  You got along with our two cats just fine and fit right into our family with no problem at all. 

I love how all kinds of people are drawn to you.  It was so much fun taking you to dog training classes at PetSmart because you managed to make people laugh and still were the best at following commands most days.  You are so eager to please and easy to train.  We are so proud of you!  I love to watch you enjoy the outdoors and wish we had an area where you could run off leash like you did at the park the one day when the clasp broke off and you got in a good run.  I couldn’t believe how fast you could go and how happy you were that day! 

The bond you have with Gerard is heartwarming to me.  I know you will always be a daddy’s girl, but just hope you know how much I love you too.  I enjoy feeding you breakfast every morning and reviewing the commands you learned.  I like giving you big hugs and belly rubs too.  You are such a good dog and I am so glad we decided to look on Petfinder for you when we did.  You have certainly enriched our lives!

Addendum to letter--5/25/19:  We are so sorry you dislocated your shoulder January of 2017 and that you were in pain for a couple years.  You were so tough and stubborn and we just wanted to have as much time with you as possible.  It was so hard to watch you not be able to enjoy so many of the things you used to be able to do.  Yet, you were a trooper and still wanted to please us!  When you finally reached the place where you could not longer get up or walk through the house even, we knew it was time to say goodbye.  Tell Mr. Moe and Manny Boy we miss them too and say "hello" to them for us.  We know they would be ready to greet you as you cross the Rainbow Bridge.

Karen, Lucky Mom of a Rescue Dog

 (Karen's review 11-6-14, 5 stars)

A Letter to My Dog by Robin Layten is a collection of letters written by people to their dogs.  Some famous, some old, some young contributors all have one thing in common:  they love their dogs!  The pictures in this book alone are a reason to get this.  It is filled with full-page color glossy pictures of all kinds of dogs on every other page!  The letters are very touching, some funny, some sad.  If you are a dog lover, this is a must read!  I'm sure you can agree with most, if not all, of the letters.  I know I did!

What a great book to start off with for November!  I love you, Abby!
(Gerard's review 11-5-14, 5++ stars)

Also read and loved A Letter to My Cat.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt is a Best Seller Children's book!

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt is a story told through letters to a little boy from crayons.  As soon as I started this book I was hooked because I wanted to see what each color had to say.  It's cute and liked how this book is told from lots of different point of views.  I think it would get young children to use different colored crayons instead of just one or two colors.  This is a short, fun read that shows what crayons think.   It has over 2500 reviews on Amazon, mostly 5 stars! My husband read this too, see his review below.
(Karen's review)

Duncan is a little boy who one day opened his crayon box and found a bunch of letters from his crayons.  Every now and then you need to read a kid's book.  I enjoyed this one very much!  Happy coloring!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Blacklands" by Belinda Bauer

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer was a bit slow moving I thought for a suspense novel but it did keep my interest.  A 12-yr-old boy named Steven writes to the serial killer in jail to try to find out where the killer buried his uncle Billy who was killed when he was just a boy.  I liked the way the letters were written and how suspense built up to when Steven and the killer confronted each other.  It didn’t end like I expected.  It's good and I recommend it
(Karen's Review 4/18/10)  


Blacklands by Belinda Bauer is awesome!  I finished it in just two days because it was almost impossible to put down.  This book is about Steven, a 12-yr-old boy who wants to find where a killer buried his uncle.  He decides to write to the killer in prison and the letters back and forth between the killer and Steven is very interesting!  This is Belinda Bauer’s first book, but I’ll be looking for the next one--super job!

(Gerard's Review 4/9/10)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Maggie's Miracle by Karen Kingsbury

Maggie's Miracle by Karen Kingsbury is the story of single widow who’s an attorney and her little boy who wrote a letter to God asking for a daddy to do things with. A lonely widower decides to help by joining an organization that matches men up with boys who don’t have fathers to be their friend. Guy turns out to be the woman’s childhood friend who was a Pastor’s son and who Maggie asked to pray for a miracle for her. They wind up getting married at the end.
(Karen's review 11/07)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

A Bible Reading Challenge For You

 I just discovered this morning that Mom's Toolbox:  Tools For Real Moms Growing In Christ is starting a blogger Bible reading challenge to read the Bible through in 90 days.  It just started yesterday so hurry over there to sign up. 


I read the Holy Bible through once.  It's a wonderful book that can really make a huge difference in your life if you accept it as God's Holy Word and ask God to show you the truth and speak to your heart as you read it.  It is not a text book and should not be read as one.  It is inspired by God.  It is like no other book broken down into two main parts:  The Old Testament (the time before Jesus came to earth--the old covenant between God and man) and the New Testament (the time about Jesus life on earth and the acts of his disciples and his teachings--The New Covenant between God and man.)  The entire Bible is broken down into 66 books with chapter and verse references. 


There is something for everyone in the Bible.  Basic major groupings of the books by category include:



Books of the Law (aka Books of Moses), history, poetry, major prophets (major because they are longer), minor prophets (minor because they are shorter, not less important), gospels, church history, Letters by Paul, other letters, prophecy.
Gerard and I both love this book because it is life changing and thought provoking.  It is truly unique, like no other!  We highly recommend it!

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?