Our Beau — one of the many Boston Terriers that have been a part of my life since before I even began school — was born Oct. 16, 2002. Our anniversary.

He became a part of our family on Dec. 8 of that year. That was the day our beloved Buster was born, back in 1983.

On Feb. 23 of this year we said goodbye to our boy, and let him cross the Rainbow Bridge. It was time, for the last months, weeks, days, were not good to him. Not good at all.

And so, it would seem, the Age of the Boston Terrier in our lives has run its course. For all those years we give thanks. Truly, as our friend Paul Bright — whom we both love and appreciate more than words can express — says, “When God made a dog, he made something very special.”

In my hoped for life in the next dimension, may it be, in some way, perhaps inexplicably so, that at least the spirits of all those dogs who enriched our lives might be with us again.

Well, now. Of course we miss and grieve the passing of Beau. Yet into this maelstrom of emotions has come a very special gift. She’s three-and-a-half pounds of pure love. A Chihuahua.

We named her Ellie. She’s a rescue, approximately two years old, and made possible for us by our daughter Mary Bart, who lives in Florida. To say Mary Bart is a dog lover is an understatement of immeasurable proportion.

She came to us to help mend broken hearts. Our Ellie.

We are blessed beyond measure.

Note: Bartow continues on the slow and very long road to recovery from bacterial pneumonia, which had him in the hospital for two weeks. This all occurred in a confluence of loss, illness and emotional renewal. — SCH