Last week my dog Piper was put to sleep.

He was almost 13 years old.

He could barely walk.

He had a lot of growths.

He was in pain.

It was his time.

And I’m going to miss him.

A lot.

But I’m not sad.

I’m grateful.

He had a wonderful life, and I got to be a part of it.

I knew he wouldn’t be around forever.

Nothing is.

So, instead of grieving, I am celebrating.

Celebrating the friend that, from his very first day with me, would come to the office and cheer me on, even when things were hard.

Celebrating my workout partner when it was raining outside and I didn’t want to go.

Celebrating the friend that was ALWAYS excited to see me – no matter what.

Celebrating the friend that would take up the whole bed at night (he was a 75lb yellow lab).

Celebrating the friend that taught my kids not just that dogs are awesome, but what unconditional love looks like.

And so much more.

If you are receiving this email it’s because you’ve entered our world of estate planning and probate.

We think about and talk about and help people work through what happens when we leave this Earth.

And the point I always try to make is this work doesn’t have to be scary.

It doesn’t have to be sad.

It doesn’t have to be anxiety inducing.

It can be empowering.

It can be relieving.

It can be a time where we remember that our time here is limited, and we should take every moment to enjoy it by doing things we love with people we love.

This is a friendly reminder to make sure you tell the people (and animals) you love that you love them, and take a moment to appreciate all of the amazing things in your life.

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Christopher Small
CMS Law Firm LLC

PS – don’t keep this estate planning stuff to yourself – you know it’s important and we LOVE referrals!