Saying goodbye to Romeo for the last time at the vet was the hardest thing we ever had to do. Our lives were forever changed and we were sad knowing we would never see Romeo again. At that moment it was as though a part of us had also died, our hearts were breaking. Before we left we took some hair clippings so that we would always be able to touch him and remember him. As we slowly walked away we were in disbelief as to what had just occured. Knowing we were returning home without Romeo was unimaginable. We felt numb with grief.

While we were walking from the car to the house my wife was looking at some of the hair clippings. The wind started to blow and blew some of the hair out of the bag. She was very upset but I reassured her that it was meant to happen because now Romeo will be around forever. She then said, "Romeo already beat us home, he is already there. He would never leave us, he just wouldn't do that to us. His spirit will never die." We loved him more than life itself. Not knowing why she said what she said she felt positive about this. We had no idea what was about to unfold next.

For the next ten weeks we felt Romeo's presence as if he was there but we didn't know for sure what we were experiencing. Our grief and sadness was so overwhelming we were devastated and numb. We sensed his presence beside the bed, in the car, and walking next to us while walking Rudi in the park.

I began to research frantically whether animals go to heaven and if they had a soul. I couldn't believe that God would never let us see Romeo again. I found lots of information that indeed our animals do go to heaven. I also knew that Romeo was special and a gift from God and the love we shared was unconditional and pure. "Of course, why wouldn't he go to Heaven?"

When we saw Romeo after he collapsed he seemed different. Not only were we afraid to touch him because he was so fragile, we didn't want to hurt him either. It didn't seem like we were looking at our dog Romeo, because at that moment we noticed an angelic presence surrounding him. It was a bright glowing ora. He seemed untouchable. It was as though we were looking right into his soul. Later research revealed to us that a golden glow often appears around a person or pet just before passing which many believe that the angels are surrounding them at this time, to guide their way. "This is known as the golden glow".

10 weeks after his passing we noticed Rudi seemed to be starring at something in the field and wouldn't move. It was as if she was in a trance but we didn't know what she was looking at. She did it several times.

One morning, after getting off the phone, something shiny on the floor got my wife's attention from across the room. She walked across the room and found a silver heart at the same place on the floor where Romeo collapsed. She immediately thought it was from Romeo. She didn't even question how it got there. She knew then that Romeo was indeed in Heaven. She called me and said 'You won't believe it but Romeo just gave me a silver heart'. She called a jewelry store and talked to Dante about getting a chain for her heart. He then replied 'Romeo is telling you that he is ok, he misses you, but he is not sad.' She couldn't believe what she was hearing because she needed to hear those words and was immediately comforted knowing that Romeo was ok and for sure made it to heaven.

After coming home from work, I explained to Annette what happened to me the night before. Shortly after sundown while taking Rudi out for her walk in the field next door a flash of silver lights exploded like a fireworks display. With no noise and only 32 feet away I was amazed at what I saw. Silver sparkles just for an instant formed a pattern but I couldn't quite make it out. I soon realized the pattern I had just seen looked just like the face shape of our dog Romeo. I froze for a minute as I starred into space at what had just happened. Not being able to explain what I saw I kept it a secret until the next evening.

On Saturday we took Rudi to one of our favorite parks. As we began to walk we sensed Romeo with us. It was strong, we could visualize him walking next to Rudi. We then looked up and saw a rainbow that circled the sun. As we continued to walk his presence left. We felt at that time that he left to go do something and he would be back.

On Sunday we drove past another favorite park of Romeo's and felt goosebumps all over. We can't explain how but we just knew he was there. That is where he went when he left us the day before.

Since having these experiences after Romeo's passing we have come to realize that the bond and unconditional love we shared will never be broken and he will be with us forever.

Over the next 6 months we have had many more experiences, too much to mention here so we decided to create a special story on our website. Included in the story are many images that we can't explain. Ghost puppies? Click the "Paw Prints From Heaven, The Story" link on the bottom of any page.