Fortwentyyears， ， manytimestoleavehim， butshejustcouldn'， whensheturnedforty-fiveyearsold， ， whowasfouryearsoldatthetime， movedtoLaramie， Wyoming， ， andforBonnie， ， butBonnieandCassiegotthroughthemtogether.
Sixyearslater， BonniemetHank， ， affection， .
Onemorning， ， heandBonnieembracedoneanotherinthedoorwayoftheirhomeandacknowledgedoutloudhowblessedtheyweretohaveeachother.
Bonnieworkedathomethatdayratherthangoingintoheroffice， ， ， .
Thatday， MargietoldheramanhadbeenelectrocutedonapowerlinejusttwoblocksfromBonnie'， flewoutofherhouseandjumpedintohertruck.
WhenBonniearrivedatthehouse， .
'， '， eventhoughshetouchedhisbody， whichwastouchingthepowerline， .
InthefouryearsthatfollowedHank'sdeath， -and-down， -bye， ofnothavingtheopportunitytosaidallofthethingsshewantedtosay， ofnotbeingabletocomforthim， soothehim， '， herlover， herpartnertodie.
WhenBonniefinishedtalking， ， "WouldyoulikeCassie'sdeathtobedifferentfromHank's？ I'mtalkingnow， Bonnie， ， youwon'thavetoworryaboutcominghomefromworkandfindingCassiedead， andyoucanensurethatshewon'， youcanbewithher， holdher， ."
Bonnie'.
"Ijustneedcontrolthistime，" shesaid."IwantthisdeathtobedifferentfromHank's—formygirl."
， andBonnieandCassiespentthenextfewhourslyingoutsideunderthemapletree.
Whenitwastime， BonniebroughtCassieintotheclientcomfortroom， anareathatthoseofusassociatedwithTheChangesProgramhadadaptedtobemoreconducivetohumaneanimaldeathandclientgrief.
ThedogwaslyingdownbyBonnie， ."Thereyouare， '."
ThetimeforeuthanasiaarrivedandCassiewassleepingpeacefully， herheadrestingonBonnie'， ， "Maywebegintheprocedure？" AndBonnienoddedinaffirmation.
"Butfirst，" shesaidsoftly， "Iwouldliketosayaprayer."
， Bonniesoftlyprayed， "DearLord， ， aspainfulasitis， ， dearLord， ."
Throughourtears， wewhisperedourown "amens"， allsqueezingoneanother'shandsinsupportoftherightfulnessofthemoment.
Andthen， whileCassiecontinuedtosleeppeacefullyonhercaretaker'sbelly， ， ， peacefulandpainless， 'spassing， ， saying， "Ifmyhusbandhadtodie， Iwishhecouldhavediedthisway."
Sixweekslater， 'sremainsonthesamemountainwhereHank''sdeath， andespeciallythewayinwhichshehaddied， hadhelpedherresolvethedeathofherhusband.
"Cassie'sdeathwasabridgetoHankformeeting，" shewrote."Throughherdeath， IlethimknowthatifIhadhadthechoicewhenhedied， Iwouldhavehadthecourageandthededicationnecessarytobewithhimwhenhedied， '， sheknewshecouldreconnectus， soultosoul."
Eightmonthslater， ， shebroughthernew， healthypuppyClyde—anine-month-oldLabmix， .
