We miss you being our only true retriever and miss how you actually brought the ball back to us. We miss your hound-howl at the deer in the backyard and every morning when you decided it was past time to eat. We miss how you ate every single ice cube that fell onto the floor. We miss how you loved the first snowfall and how you loved to catch the snowballs we threw. We miss how you loved to bake in the sunrise and watch the sun go down and the world go around. We miss how you loved your precious tennis ball and we miss how your eyes lit up when it was time for us to throw it. We miss your beautiful smile and your wonderful heart and your presence in our household. Without you, we are drowned in sadness and your void is unexplainable. No words can describe how much we miss you, you are a part of our hearts and our souls. We continue to love you and we will love you forever.

In heaven, we hope that you have a lake to swim in and a boat to launch off of to do your famous belly-flops. We hope that there are baby pools for you to lay in when you get too hot on summer days. We hope you are laying in a field surrounded by endless tennis balls where you are stuffing as many into your mouth as you can. We hope you are eating endless ice cubes and snowballs and never letting a one melt. As a good friend said, she bets you have 5 tennis balls stuffed in your mouth right now and she bets you couldn't decide whether or not to drop them to eat an ice cube. This thought will help to comfort us during difficult days and nights. We wish and hope that you are surrounded by people who love you and cherish you as we do.

Although we wish everyday that you were still with us, you will live on in our hearts and in our memory. As I write this with tears streaming down my face, I cannot help to think that we are so very lucky to have had you as a part of our lives and we will always cherish the time we were blessed to have with you. 

We love you,
Dan, Robin, Bella and Dudley Kassees

Cooper came into our lives in the fall of 2003. He was rescued by  LEARN and fostered by Robin and Dan Kassees, our daughter and son-in-law. Little did we know at that time that he would have such an impact on our lives! As a senior lLab that wasn't in the greatest of shape when Robin and Dan brought him into their home, we wondered who would adopt this dog? Was he even adoptable??

As the months went on, however, his health improved and his personality started to show...his "smile,, the way he "talked" to you when you arrived for a visit, and his slow but easy way of worming his way into your heart. One couple came to visit and wanted to adopt him, but by that time Robin and Dan obviously couldn't let him go. It was  meant to be...he was meant to remain with them for the rest of his life. And what a life it was...camping, swimming, tennis balls and baby pools!! There's no doubt that those two years were the happiest of his life, and we are so grateful to LEARN for all you do and for saving the life of this wonderful dog. As most often happens, the time came when they had to let him go due to a serious health problem...a difficult and painful decision but the right one for Cooper's sake. Our pets are given to us for a short time, but what they leave us lasts a lifetime. We love  you Coop!!

Jan and Arnie Kemper