Dear Trooper,

The past few weeks caring for you and bringing you into my family have been wonderful. I felt such a connection to you right away and the need to protect you. The way you looked at me with your big brown eyes, I knew you needed me and I was happy to provide for you.

Saying goodbye was so hard. I knew it would be and even though I thought I had prepared myself, handing you over to your new family broke my heart.

It was hard for all of us to say goodbye. Jay still talks about how much he misses you and Maizie, for all her indifference, was definitely sad to see you go too. Our house is so quiet now. I miss my little shadow.

But our job wasn't to be your forever family, it was to prepare you for the next step. Our job now is to do the same for another animal in need. I don't think saying goodbye to our foster babies will ever be easy but hopefully we'll get used it it.

My wishes for you, Trooper:

• A lap to snuggle in every evening
• A window to sit in and watch the world go by
• Long walks where you can sniff to your heart's content
• The loving attention of adults and children alike
• Full food and water dishes
• A variety of toys to play with and bones to chew
• A family that will love you and care for you everyday for the rest of your life

So many people wanted to give you this kind of home, Trooper, but unfortunately, we could only give you to one family. Because of the forever family we chose, I'm overjoyed to say that all of my wishes for you have been fulfilled. And so even though it was hard to say goodbye to you, it felt OK in my heart.

So what's next for us? After a little break, we hope to keep fostering animals. You were such a wonderful experience that we want to continue opening our home to animals who need us. And I'll keep writing about it too and hopefully inspire more people to become foster parents for the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA.

Until we meet again Trooper, you'll remain in our hearts always.

Love,
The Marino Family - Meredith, Jay and Maizie