When I was asked to do this, I thought this would be easy seeing as how I’ve made my living public speaking. One thing I hate is people at Funerals pretending someone is a better person then they were, but I can say with 100% honesty that no words spoken by anyone here can portray Doug in a better light then he has earned in his short but rich life. I’ve never met anyone so giving. An example would be Christmas 2005. I had no money for prescription drugs that I needed. I never asked for a dime, yet he said, “ how much do you need?”, I said probably $100 and that is all I can afford to be back and he sent $600. And he said don’t worry about it. That is Doug in a nutshell. Always looking out for and helping others. It took almost 20 years of knowing Doug to get to the point today and to try to sum it up with one story, just wouldn’t be fair. I’d say it started with first time we worked together. I was training for New Horizon Kennels at Palm Beach and Doug came to town looking for a job. I called the boss up and said give Doug the job. Then everyone came and told me he had a girlfriend in Bonita Springs who was going to take my job. I went right to him and said, “Am I out of a job?” he said, “No. She has to find her own job.” So at that point I realized this is a person of great character. Then later in life I left home and had no where to go and he allowed me to move in and from that day on I really became one of the family. Off and on from that time forward I have lived with and been welcomed into the family. As the years went by the roads we traveled left the dog business and went on to other things, some of those such as the carpet business we traveled together others were totally separate. Never the less, we always remained in touch. When I decided to get married he was a no brainer for my bestman. No one else I could think of meant so much to me. In the twilight of his time here with us he became more spiritual and our conversations changed from totally goofing off to a more serious in nature. Such as our beliefs and our own mortality. Doug is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. So we would have long conversations and debate issues dealing with religion. I’m not sure why God chose to take him home so early. But, then I pause and think who are we to say it is early. It was the right time because God knows what he is doing, but I sure wish Doug was here to debate the issue with. At this point we all grieve but somewhere in God’s kingdom Doug is doing well and enjoying his just rewards