--CREATURE COMFORT
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From: Petlife Magazine kermit

In his 45 years as proprietor of Cook's Funeral Home in Texas , Jim Cook has comforted thousands of bereaved parents, children and spouses. But four years ago when his wife died of cancer, Cook needed comforting himself. His daughter suggested he get a dog, thinking it would help him feel less alone, and Cook adopted a rambunctious golden retriever pup and named her Abbey.

At the time, Cook was living in an apartment above the funeral home. "Most days I'd take Abbey downstairs with me and let her play in my office while I worked," he said. But then one day Abbey got out and went looking for new friends to play with.

Cook discovered Abbey in the Chapel, curled at the feet of a woman seated in a chair near her husband's casket. Cook apologized profusely for the intrusion, and made as if to lead Abbey away.

"Does she have to go?" the grieving widow asked him. "It's such a comfort, having her here."

Soon, Abbey was sneaking out of Cook's office reglarly and heading straight for one of the funeral home's visitation rooms. "She seems to sense who is most distraught, and that's the person she'll go to first," says Jim. "She'll sit at their feet, perfectly still, and gaze up at them with those compassionate brown eyes of hers, and within minutes they've stopped crying and started stroking her fur."

Off-duty, you won't find a more playful pup than Abbey. She loves to romp and chase sticks and mooch treats from Cook's dinner plate. "But the moment she steps into that Chapel she turns into a completely different dog," says Cook. "She's quiet and respectful. I think she must have a sixth sense of how to behave."

Abbey's only misstep happened back when she was still a puppy, and even that turned out well. "She ate somebody's carnations," Cook explains simply.

Cook rushed out to replace the flowers, but the family wouldn't let him bring them in. "Aunt Mary was a real dog lover," they told him. "You can't imagine how it would have made her smile to see those chewed-up flowers."~~~

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]