To describe our little Maltese, Nicki, is to describe a little dog who always smiled. From the moment he joined our family at 12 weeks, he had a smile on his face. Throughout his long life until we lost him at age 15, he brought joy to everyone who met him.

His birthday was December 13, so his “theme” song became the Beach Boys hit “Little St. Nick.” Somehow I think he knew that because every year we would play it on his birthday and he seemed to smile even brighter. He loved the snow and, though we didn’t see much of it in Seattle, when we did, he would run in circles. I think if he could, he would have made a snow angel!

We had a “mom and pop” type business and Nicki was the store mascot and greeter. He became a minor celebrity in the city of Kirkland – everyone knew Nicki! He became the face our business – on the web site, ads, business cards, etc. We even had customers who would come in just to see him. He enjoyed his “job” and would prance out to greet whenever my husband would call out “Nicki…come on out here…someone to see you!”

It was on a trip to visit our daughter that we noticed a lesion on his lip which turned out to be lymphoma. That’s when we met Dr. Choy at Seattle Veterinary Specialists. We cannot say enough nice things about Dr. Choy. He treated Nicki as a treasured family member and not just “a dog”. He gave Nicki almost another year to spend with us, helped us understand his illness, and when it was time to say goodbye to that sweet smiling face.

Nicki will forever be in our hearts!