By special request, I am honored to add this memorial for another fine representative
of this wonderful breed that crossed the Rainbow Bridge long before her owners were ready.

Tai Tai was the foundation bitch for most of Toki-O Akitas and has left behind a stunning legacy from the 12 years she was with Karen.

	Fragile Circle "We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary  than our own, live within a fragile  circle, easily and often  reached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.  We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." Irving Townsend.
This is a picture of Tai Tai (1 1/2 years old) with our daughter Jennifer (8 years old) in 1987

Tai Tai is pictured above in May of 1997 at 11 years of age.

The Power of the Dog There is sorrow enough in the natural way From men and women to fill our day; And when we are certain of sorrow in store, Why do we always arrange for more?  Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware  Of giving your heart to a dog to tear. Buy a pup and your money will buy  Love unflinching that cannot lie--  Perfect passion and worship fed  By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.  Nevertheless it is hardly fair  To risk your heart to a dog to tear. When the fourteen years which Nature permits  Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,  And the vet's unspoken prescription runs  To lethal chambers or loaded guns,  Then you will find--it's your own affair--  But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.  When the body that lived at your single will,  With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!) When the spirit that answered your every mood Is gone--wherever it goes--for good, You will discover how much you care,  And will give your heart to a dog to tear.  We've sorrow enough in the natural way,  When it comes to burying Christian clay.  Our loves are not given, but only lent,  At compound interest of cent per cent.  Though it is not always the case, I believe,  That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:  For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,  A short-term loan is as bad as a long--  So why in--Heaven (before we are there)  Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?  Author: Rudyard Kipling

Tai Tai is smiling down on you now Karen; she is at peace.