A year ago, we lost Rowdy to cancer at almost 12 years of age. There has not been a day over the past 12 months where I have not thought about him and wished he were still here with us. Of course, wishing Moxie on him would not have been his fondest wish but having him here to try to tolerate his great granddaughter would have added special joy to our household.

Life goes on. Those that have departed are mourned and missed. Those that survive, are cherished and loved. So it is here at the Garvie household. But we still miss Mr. R. He was a very special member of this strange household. Here is one picture that, I think, captures the essence of who Rowdy was. The young lady in the photo had me take this for her senior portrait. This is the one she picked over all others. This was taken exactly 2 years ago and it's easy to see how happy Rowdy was and how in love he was with this beautiful young woman. A young woman who showed him in a talent contest when she was 8 years old and Rowdy was the Gentle Lion while Melanie was the Lion Tamer. A young woman who just this year started College. A young woman who loved Rowdy as much as we did. Please think of Rowdy today with warmth and happiness. Because to think of him any other way would be an insult to everything he was.



In deference to Attila, I'd like to say that this photo is exactly the way it came out of the camera. No silver halides were destroyed either in the taking or the processing of this image.

Jim