Well, Smores was put to sleep this morning...my brother said it went as well as it could have gone. He and my Dad took her in. So that's that. It's sad, but anyone who saw my parents having to carry her down the stairs in a blanket and watched her hobble around the backyard yesterday would say that this had to be done. She was 13 years old. Fixing her hips would have cost a fortune, and for what? And who's to say she would even survive that. But at least she isn't in pain anymore...I stopped at my parents' house to say goodbye yesterday, and she licked my hands and arms (which, for some reason, she always liked to do...was one of those weird things...I could never tell if it was her motherly instincts and she was cleaning me, or if she was just nervous about something and licked me to calm her nerves, or what...but whatever).

I went home and told Kazak that he better not make me choose whenever he gets too old to go on. It will not be a choice I'll ever look forward to making.

So, that's that. What more can I say? Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers...