# In Memory of Luke



## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

The only "bad" thing Luke did was steal food any chance he could get!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Some baby pictures with my kids, in 2007 & 2008


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

I love this Christmas picture with my kids. The little white dog is my Dad's.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Luke was such a beautiful and wonderful boy. 
I am so sorry for your loss. 

I can tell how much he meant to you and your family from the pictures. 
I know he is missed....... 

Godspeed Luke


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Luke, the best Christmas present ever! (2007)


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## B and G Mom (Oct 29, 2014)

So sorry for your loss, it is clear how well loved he was. What a beautiful and precious boy!


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## Dee's Gidget (Aug 14, 2016)

I am sorry for your loss. What a wonderful life you all shared. The pictures show how much love was shared. Hugs


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

My husband with Luke in September. I am having trouble finding pictures of me with Luke, because I'm always the one behind the camera!


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Lovely pictures of a handsome sweet boy. Thank you for sharing these memories. They are always in our hearts.


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

I'm so sorry for your loss  . Luke looks like he was a sweet boy and clearly your beautiful family loved him very much. I hope you find some sort of solace in the fact that he didn't suffer and went peacefully in his sleep. May your many memories help mend your broken heart.


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## swishywagga (Nov 13, 2012)

I am so very sorry for the loss of your precious Luke, the pictures are absolutely beautiful.


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## kansas gold (Oct 8, 2007)

Beautiful pictures. It looks like you gave a Luke a beautiful life.


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## 4rdogs (Dec 22, 2007)

So sorry for your loss.. He was a handsome boy


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## Brinkleythegolden (Jun 18, 2012)

I'm so sorry for your loss..


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## KiwiD (Jan 14, 2008)

I'm so sorry for your loss. All the beautiful pictures show what a special family member he was so I can certainly understand the heartbreak you're feeling.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Your pictures show how well loved Luke was. I'm so very sorry for your loss.


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## Pilgrim123 (Jul 26, 2014)

Luke has certainly left you with some wonderful photos and even better memories! He looks like a beautiful boy. I am sorry for your loss.


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Found another sweet picture. Luke would have loved to have been a 10-pound lap dog! This is my son-in-law picking up that 70-pound bundle of love!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

A couple of years ago, we hosted a foreign exchange high school student from France. She LOVED Luke, and of course, Luke loved her back. She didn't have a dog at home, but talked about how she would want a dog like Luke someday when she was on her own. <3


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

What beautiful pictures of Luke, thank you for sharing them. I'm very sorry for your loss, I hope that these many wonderful memories will give you and your family some comfort. Rest easy sweet boy.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I am so very sorry for the loss of you so very handsome and sweet boy. We lost our girl, Sophie on Oct.12. She wouldhavebeen13 come Jan,. 8, but we had only had her20 months. Adopted her 5 weeks after she turned 11. Like your boy, she loved attention and love the grandkids. My hubby called her Sweet Pea. Love the pictures of your guy with the kids. Goldens are a special dog.


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## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

What a love filled and beautiful tribute to your very special boy. I am very, very sorry to read of your loss.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Luke*

What beautlful pictures of Luke!! I am so very sorry!
I private msg.'d you and will add him to the Rainbow Bridge List when you reply to me.
My Smooch and Snobear with watch over Luke!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Karen519 said:


> What beautlful pictures of Luke!! I am so very sorry!
> I private msg.'d you and will add him to the Rainbow Bridge List when you reply to me.
> My Smooch and Snobear with watch over Luke!


Karen, I read your message, but I couldn't message you back because my membership is too new. Here is what I wrote:

We named him Luckenbach Skywalker - Luckenbach is the name of one of my & my husband's favorite country & western hangouts when we lived in Texas, and Skywalker because we are all Star Wars fans. Of course, we just called him Luke. He was born October 30, 2007, and went to the Rainbow Bridge on October 24, 2016. Today would have been his 9th birthday. Thank you for adding my sweet boy! 0 

Thank you to all for your condolences. For people who don't have dogs, they just don't really get the connection we have. It has been very comforting to be able to share here.


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## sophieanne (Feb 4, 2014)

I can tell from the pictures how much Luke was loved and how much he is missed.
Thank you for sharing him with us, all his pictures made me smile. I got my girl dog December 23, 2006. Time flies so quickly when we have these wonderful goldens in our life. Hoping the memories and pictures keep you smiling.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Luke*

Tanya

I added Luke to the 2016 Rainbow Bridge List:

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...y-list/395098-2016-rainbow-bridge-list-4.html

The pictures of Luke are just amazing!!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Tanya*



TanyaS said:


> My husband with Luke in September. I am having trouble finding pictures of me with Luke, because I'm always the one behind the camera!


Tanya: I can sympathize with you and I'm not in as many pics with the dogs either. I'm usually the one taking the pictures.


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

*More memories...*



Karen519 said:


> Tanya: I can sympathize with you and I'm not in as many pics with the dogs either. I'm usually the one taking the pictures.


Glad to know I'm not the only one! I know I have a few of myself with Luke, but I can't find them because they're few and far between, filed away "somewhere." When we get another puppy, I'm going to be sure to regularly get pictures of myself with him!

I wanted to share some more memories of Luke. Thank you for allowing me to do this here!  

Luke loved everyone, as I have said, but he really loved us, his "immediate" family. However, there were times we had to take vacations without him, because I never felt it was safe to fly him after he was full-grown. (If he were little and could fly in the cabin with us, we would have taken him!) During those times, my oldest adult daughter, her husband and our grandkids would stay at our house and housesit/dogsit for us. Now, as you can see from the pictures, he loved them so very much! Our grandkids were HIS grandkids! lol. But whenever we were gone, my daughter always reported that Luke would pout. He would refuse to come upstairs to our bedroom where he normally slept, and would instead sleep by the front door. He would also not eat as normal. He would eat a little, but usually leave half his food in his bowl. This was very unusual (until the last few months of his life when he was slowing down) because the boy was ALWAYS.HUNGRY. 

He was a very chill, calm dog, but man, when we got home from a long trip, he went absolutely crazy!!! Crying, whining, turning in circles, wagging his tail so much it must have hurt, and picking up anything within sight to bring to us as a welcome home gift. Sooooo freaking cute. 

Another thing - I loved to tease him and make the computer say his name "Luke" - it would drive him mad!! Always cracked me up. He would perk up and look all over the place. He could not figure out where this unfamiliar voice was coming from and would look all over the place to see who was saying his name. If I had it say anyone else's name, he didn't care. He only paid attention when it said "Luke."

Every time we all sat down on the couch to watch a movie together, he would settle right down at our feet, and put his paw on somebody's foot. If we tried to move our foot he would put his paw right back. One day, when my youngest grandchild (now age 2) was about 10 months, he went over and lay next to her and put his paw on her leg. We all laughed, because it was the first time he had done that to her. It was like he was saying, "OK, you're one of mine now." When she moved, he kept putting his paw back on top of her leg.


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

sophieanne said:


> I can tell from the pictures how much Luke was loved and how much he is missed.
> Thank you for sharing him with us, all his pictures made me smile. I got my girl dog December 23, 2006. Time flies so quickly when we have these wonderful goldens in our life. Hoping the memories and pictures keep you smiling.


Sophieann - just noticed you said got your girl on the same day exactly 2 years later after we got our Luke. <3


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

3 goldens said:


> I am so very sorry for the loss of you so very handsome and sweet boy. We lost our girl, Sophie on Oct.12. She wouldhavebeen13 come Jan,. 8, but we had only had her20 months. Adopted her 5 weeks after she turned 11. Like your boy, she loved attention and love the grandkids. My hubby called her Sweet Pea. Love the pictures of your guy with the kids. Goldens are a special dog.


I just read Sophie's story and it made me cry! What a sweet, beautiful dog. I'm so sorry for your loss. One of my friends said to me the only fault of a dog is their life span. It's so true. How I wish they could live longer.


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

So sorry for your loss of Luke, such a beautiful boy who was obviously a much loved member of your family


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Tanya*



TanyaS said:


> Glad to know I'm not the only one! I know I have a few of myself with Luke, but I can't find them because they're few and far between, filed away "somewhere." When we get another puppy, I'm going to be sure to regularly get pictures of myself with him!
> 
> I wanted to share some more memories of Luke. Thank you for allowing me to do this here!
> 
> ...


My Tucker, who I adopted from this forum, exhibits the same behavior of going crazy when we come home, even if we're only gone a few hours. He runs to grab a toy and then does the whining and turning in circles. He wags his tail so hard that it bangs into doors, etc.!!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Friday afternoon I picked up Luke's ashes. I had been so strong but the moment they brought out the box, a nicely framed plaster impression of his paw print, and the blanket we had wrapped him up in, I completely lost it. I cried so hard I couldn't even talk to the receptionist and get "thank you" out. They did such a nice job, the box they provided for his ashes is beautiful, and the paw print frame has a place we can insert a photo. Gosh, I miss my boy so much!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

I love it when I discover a new picture of Luke. My daughter had this on her phone. We moved cross-country this summer and made a lot of stops along the way. This picture was taken at Yellowstone National Park. He loved that place!!


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Karen519 said:


> My Tucker, who I adopted from this forum, exhibits the same behavior of going crazy when we come home, even if we're only gone a few hours. He runs to grab a toy and then does the whining and turning in circles. He wags his tail so hard that it bangs into doors, etc.!!


Ahhh, sweet boys. I miss that greeting so much!! I hate it now when I come home and it's so quiet. BTW I love the name Tucker. It's actually on my list of puppy names! <3


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Tanya*

My hubby and I can't stand to be without a dog even one day. We adopted Tucker the day after we had to put our Smooch to sleep. That's the only way we heal and give another needy dog a home.

Tucker was his name when we adopted him and we had named our other dog, a Samoyed, Tonka, so it is perfect!!


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## Amystelter (Jul 31, 2013)

I'm with you Karen. Never understood the notion of replacement. Dogs are so different, you can never replace one with another. What you can do is open your heart to love another. The pain becomes so much easier to deal with. We dog lovers are not complete without that outlet of love and care. I personally don't feel a disservice to my buddy. I loved him with all my heart and soul but he's gone now. I miss him but focusing on that loss only hurts and nothing is gained. My perspective on this did not happen overnight btw...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Thank you all SOOOO much. You have made this so much more bearable than I ever thought imagined. Losing my sweet boy with no warning at all seems so awful, but then I read of others losing their sweet Goldens after an illness, and I realize it is all so painful to lose such a sweet, loyal companion, whether you were prepared for it or not. I will always miss my Luke!!! Thank you all for allowing me to have a place to post about my sorrow. It is awesome to know that others understand how I feel.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Tanya*



TanyaS said:


> Thank you all SOOOO much. You have made this so much more bearable than I ever thought imagined. Losing my sweet boy with no warning at all seems so awful, but then I read of others losing their sweet Goldens after an illness, and I realize it is all so painful to lose such a sweet, loyal companion, whether you were prepared for it or not. I will always miss my Luke!!! Thank you all for allowing me to have a place to post about my sorrow. It is awesome to know that others understand how I feel.


That's why this Rainbow Bridge section is so comforting. We have all been through this pain. It hurts whether you are prepared or not!


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