Thank You

Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of sympathy. Many of you chose to share your own stories and anxiety about the end of life decision that most of us must go through if we choose to share our lives with a pet. I started this blog as a way to journal my experiences related to a campaign. What I didn't realize was how intertwined my personal life and my political life would become. There really is no separating the two for me. Major events like the passing of a dear friend are things that have a profound effect on my life. Consequently that becomes a part of who you are and something that needs to be shared if you expect people to trust you. If anything comes from me sharing my grief, I hope it is a renewed appreciation for the people who are there to pick up the pieces for the rest of us. I dealt with one passing of a beloved friend. The veternarian who was with me has to perform that act several times a week. For every animal she restores to health, she has to end the suffering of another. Think about the people who work in animal shelters. Because of all the irresponsible people who refuse to spay or neuter, or who allow backyard breeding to occur, we end up with thousands of animals every year who must be killed because there simply are not enough homes for them. I cannot imagine the strength it must take to work in a shelter and see innocent animals put to death every day because of carelessness. I will return to my usual self on this blog. I'm not going to turn this into a soapbox for animal rights. In fact I have a couple of topics I'd like to return to involving TIF and campaign finance ethics. Once again, thanks to everyone who shared their remembrances of Cody. Regards, Mark Forsythe