In the days and weeks following Chibi-chan's passing, we were terribly heartbroken and lonely. Chibi kept her promise and her spirit still roams the house. We feel her presence at times when things are quiet. We see faint shadows of her from the corners of our eyes as she flits in for a quick snooze in her favorite spots in the house. As she did in life, she continues to reassure us that everything's going to be ok. She always kept us calm and gave us comfort when we needed it. And she still does.

We knew it would be a long and patient search before we found our next companion. But as usual, Chibi-chan told us to just relax and keep our hopes up. We began to search the Web for Japanese Akita breeders and links to places that might help us begin our quest. It was somewhat disappointing to find that everywhere we searched turned up rescue sites or dog showing associations. We looked in the newspapers and were resigned to a long search that might even require traveling to meet the breeders in person.

One day, Lisa happened across the Ichiban Akitas Web site. They had just had a litter on October 16 and of the eight puppies, there was one, and only one, white female. I immediately called Carol, the breeder, and she told me she was so sorry, but that the sire's breeder had already claimed her. Furthermore, we learned that these were show dogs, not intended for household pets. It was sad, but we didn't expect to be successful on our very first try.

Carol told us that she had another white Akita female named Saki that was looking for a new home. She was thirteen months old and, from the pictures that Carol sent us, just gorgous. She, of course, was also a show dog, but might be a good fit for us. We thought and discussed Saki for days and days, and I think Carol was beginning to wonder if we were just a couple of flakes. We finally decided that it would just be too difficult to really bond with a thirteen month old puppy as a pet, and that she would probably be a lot happier in a shower's home.

By now Thanksgiving had come and gone. We knew that Chibi-chan would keep working on finding us a new companion, but we would have to be patient. We thought of Chibi-chan every day and thanked her for having been our friend.

All of a sudden, out of the blue, Carol sent us an Email telling us that the other breeder might not take the white female puppy after all. We were excited, but also very anxious that this was too good to be true. We felt that on one hand, it would not be right to take this show-quality puppy out of circulation. But on the other hand, she appeared to be exactly what we had been dreaming of. When Carol finally told us that the puppy was ours, we were astonished!

Yuki-chan arrived on December 15. The instant we saw her, we realized we were the luckiest people in the world to have been given the chance to have Yuki with us. She is the most adorable puppy and she took to us like she had been wondering where we'd been all of her life!

And Chibi-chan's spirit still lives with us too. She's got that big happy grin on her face and telling us, "I told you I'd find you a new puppy! Sheesh, you guys are so impatient!". When Yuki-chan is romping around the house, Chibi-chan is frolicking right beside her. (In fact, we think Chibi is even teaching Yuki how to be a sassy-girl.)

We are blessed with two most precious of gifts this Christmas, the memories and love that Chibi-chan gave us, and the love and joy of Yuki-chan. At that time of year when we pause to give thanks for the good things that life brings to us, and to remember friends and good times gone by, this Christmas has been the most special ever. There can be no greater reason for giving thanks than for the love and joy that Chibi-chan brought to our lives. And this year, there can be but one greater joy than knowing that Chibi-chan is spending her first Christmas in Heaven, playing with her cousin Tabi who was waiting for Chibi to join her. That joy is our first Christmas with Yuki-chan.