Thank you for your kind words. We do take comfort in that thought.

She left us with 17 years of the most wonderful memories. Here are a few:

She got her name because she was so tiny when we got her (3lbs) that she couldn't walk through cut grass and instead hopped like a cricket.

She used to take a ball and place it near her knotted rope toy then pick up the rope and shake it as hard as she could, hitting the ball and sending it flying across the room, then chase the ball effectively playing fetch with herself.

She loved to chase the water that the pool cleaner squirts out of its "tail" when it would surface to change directions.

She was very protective of the baby blue-fronted amazons I raised and kept a close eye on them (there are several pictures of her with the babies on this site with more to come when I have time).

Her best buddy in the world (other than my mom of course) was Charlie, my mom's Maine Coon Cat (there is a picture of him here as well). For some reason she was obsessed with his ears and whiskers and was always licking and chewing them - Charlie has spent most of his life without whiskers as a result (it's amazing he has never gotten stuck anywhere - even more amazing that he not only let her do it, he seemed to enjoy it)

She loved playing with the ducks and geese while walking along the docks in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

My heart goes out to you. Take comfort in the fact that you gave Cricket the best 17 years ever. Thanks for sharing cricket with us.

Early this morning - Saturday, March 7, 2009 - we lost Cricket. Last night she had a stroke which left her unable to stand or sit up.

She gave us 17 wonderful years of joy and was my mom's best friend. Cricket was a very special little dog and she is greatly missed.