What I discovered was an individual that loved life, had a passion for "Tibbies", believed in God and was a dedicated family man. If I went back and counted the emails that we sent to each other it has to be in the 1000's as we would natter back in forth with each other about dogs, his wife and children and life in general.

Dennis was my editor for this web site. I would always ask for his input about a page or topic and he would kindly review it, rewrite it, correct my spelling, put it into some sensible kind of context and then commence to tell me how much he liked it...... I often wondered if he thought "gezzz how can this guy change tenses so often in one paragraph....."

Dennis was a minister, and just a little bit further to the left of center then me. He supported Hilary, I did not, he was very forgiving person, I am not, he was a great family man, and I am trying to be...... Dennis was a person that I looked up to and wished that I could be more like him right from the beginning of our friendship. He recognized my weaknesses but did not attempt to change me..... He would sick the "Ladies" at his church into prayer sessions for me and my family whenever we had a need.

Dennis and I both came from the Miami, Oklahoma area. We hung out at the same places, cruised the same streets as kids and rooted like crazy for the Sooners football team. The funny thing is that we were both there about the same time. I had probably seen him or went to the same matinee at the Miami theater on a saturday but again never had the pleasure of knowing him.

When Dennis told me that he was sick, I did not know how to respond. Now in retrospect I wish I had been more like him to be there in his time of need. I told Dennis that I would like to just stick our heads in the sand and pretend that everything was ok.... so that is what we did. We continued our emails but they grew fewer and fewer ....we spent less time on IM's and I prayed daily for him and his family.

I helped Dennis set up his web site for Vickford Kennels. We dreamed together of having our Kennels joined together, exchanging dogs in the future, having Best in Show dogs with the Vickford Wanasea names attached..... we would laugh, tell silly jokes.... he would say "whoa Posse Bro I will have to pray for you for that one", when I would get a little out of line.

When I received Dennis's last email to me, it was more then I could take. His email telling of his moving to Hospice was typical of the man that I came to know over the past few years. He was strong, caring and ready to meet God. It was the saddest letter that I have ever read in my life and it reminded me once more why Dennis Taber is a man that I look up to and will miss him everyday.

The saddest part of all of this is the fact that I never had an opportunity to meet Dennis and his family in person. We were freinds via the internet. Jane had the pleasure of meeting them at the Nationals but I never had the chance to meet him in person. However, the impact that he has had on my life is tremendous.

Dennis I will continue to pray for you and your family. I will miss you and you will be in my thoughts until the end of my time here on earth. God bless.

Your Posse Bro,

Larry Michael Jensen

ps: Bro, I will continue to keep a journal so that we can catch up when we meet again.

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