My Jakey has a first name it's J-A-K-E-Y

This is my Jake. I got Jake when he was about six weeks old from the humane society in Sioux Falls, SD. Jake had been part of a litter of puppies whose owner had been deployed. The humane society had named him "Liberty"

Yeah...that wasn't going to work for us. So the name search began. The first night that I had him he didn't like me...not even a little bit. He slept in my room at my parents house and cried all night long. Every time he cried I would say, "say that's enough now" and he would quiet for a bit. To this day every time I say "say" he quiets down and pays attention to me.

I think it took about three days to name him and nothing really seemed to sound right. Finally Jake came up and he seemed to like it. So Jake became his name. Jake and I really started to bond after he had a name and things started looking up. He and I have been through a lot in the last seven and half years and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

When I found out that I was pregnant I told Jake first! I was so excited to be able to share this with him! Shortly after I found out I was pregnant we found a lump on Jake's neck. We had this lump excised, we waited for almost a week to hear what this lump was...seriously this was one of the longest weeks of my life. The vet called and said that it was a lymphosarcoma. Ok as long as we had clean margins. Whew! What a relief, my friend was going to be ok!

When I found out that I lost our baby Jake wouldn't talk to me at...all. I was crushed! We had been through so much and when I needed him the most he wouldn't even talk to me! It took a day or so but he finally came around. I took this picture with photo booth on my computer. He's been checking on me since then to make sure that I'm ok. It seems that God knew how much I needed the comfort of my friend!

Through the pain of losing our baby I am finding so many things to be thankful for. First that God allowed me to conceive a child. Second that I went into remission with my RA, Third that I was able to have a complete miscarriage. We have been very blessed even in our pain and I can't express how thankful I am for family and friends and a God who knows my sorrow and comforts me even when I can't find words to cry out.