It just
happened to be National Dog Day and my FB feed was full of pictures of dogs
with their owners, which I am not sure made my grief any easier. It definitely did bring joy to see that other
families had made the most precious investment in having a pet. For us this week, we reflect on what Mel
taught us and the joy she brought to our family at all stages of her
great happy labradoodle life.
I fully admit I
am more a dog person. It’s the ability
to take them out walking rain or shine.
She kept me moving and I commit to keeping that healthy habit up. I
followed Mel up Mosquito Creek many times but when she started following me, I
knew something was wrong. 
Mel hated the
rain. She pranced around under the overhang,
which covered the back of our house only to jet out to pee and gun it back for
protection. It’s pouring today here in
Vancouver as I write this but I doubt it’s raining in doggie heaven. (Which BTW is busy this week as a couple
other friends’ dogs headed there too).
We all grieve
differently but I had no idea the impact that having a family dog would have on
our family and the hurt we are all feeling. Such a loyal companion. Such a big
presence in our house. I saw her develop
bonds with both our kids (and their friends) during their various stages and truly she
became someone who would listen unconditionally and only smile back with those
deep “whites of the eye” we teased her about.
She always made an attempt to sleep in each of our rooms during the
night and my motherly instinct knew by the claws on the hardwood floor where I
could find her.
Thank you Mel
for bringing such joy over the 11 years we shared with you. We saw big potential in you, the cheapest dog
of the litter with the bad droopy eye we had to get fixed. When BK said we were going to Abbotsford
“just to look” we had no idea we would bring you home so unprepared. We were definitely not trained dog owners but
we tried our best. Anne Jackson told us
we were doing it all wrong. Maybe we fed
you the wrong food from Costco or maybe it was the scraps I gave you the odd
time under the table or the pigs ears early on.
I think maybe it was a combination of all the socks, the Kleenex, the
kitchen cloths or maybe the hair elastics you ate over the years!
Teresa our
neighbour will miss you. You had a way
of bringing sunshine to her life when we would visit or you would sit on her
driveway gazing into her big front window anticipating her door to open. I know
the cookies were stale but you always accepted them politely. I think you gave her a reason to live as she
started deteriorating herself. We shared
a tear together yesterday when I told her.You definitely got me through heartaches and I thank you for that. We don’t know what to do with your stinky “baby girl" stuffed toy and sadly my home office just isn’t the same.
PS. Grammy misses you too. She wrote a poem for you and posted it in our Family Facebook Page.
 |
