"I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know how much I treasure the portrait you did of my basset hound Ceasar.  It means much more now that Ceasar has left me.  I had to make a heart-wrenching decision to put him down recently when we discovered he had cancer.  He was just 4 and a half years old.  I look at his portrait everyday and it makes me smile.  You captured him beautifully both inside and out.  Thank you."