I hope you know how very much I loved you.
I can't help wishing God had let you stay.
And yet the steadfast love and trust you gave me
Is something time can never take away.

And when I see a tail that won't stop wagging
I'll know within that shaggy body, too,
Will be a heart that holds your kind of loving
And I'll reach out with love, remembering you.

January 1979

 – from "More Poetry of Guila Manchester," Book 2, 2nd Printing
© Guila Manchester. Thank you to Joan Jenrich, publisher, for permission to reprint Guila Manchester's poetry on the Four Paws in Heaven website.

This page is dedicated to the memory of Guila Manchester, founder of Humanitarians of Florida and a very dear friend to all animals. Guila crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on June 9, 2000.