Bailey

Missing Our Girl

April 7, 2011 By Blonde Mom 11 Comments

It’s been five weeks since we had to say goodbye to our first girl.

I miss that neurotic old dog and I miss her sweet smell of a puppy days when everything in her path was fair game as a chew toy.

I miss the staccato click clicking of nails on our hardwood floors and her shameless begging for table scraps.

I miss her crooked little leg and her big brown eyes and her love of napping in the sun. We’ll never know how her leg was injured, as she was about 3 months old when we brought her home from the Nashville Humane Association, but that experience undoubtedly left its mark on her and her disposition for the rest of her life, no matter how much we made her feel loved.

And she was loved.

I miss her bossing our dog Jack around like a grumpy old lady and by the way he occasionally sulks and whimpers when I get home from work I know he misses every ounce of alpha dog in her 38-pound body, too.

I just flat out miss her ya’ll, and so does hubby, tremendously. I still can’t talk about her without crying.

This picture is a classic prank ultrasound photo my hubby made in 2001 when we first announced we were having a baby.

Now this?

Makes me smile on a sad day.

Filed Under: Our Mutts 11 Comments

Good Night Sweet Girl, Not Goodbye

March 3, 2011 By Blonde Mom 36 Comments

Bailey in 2000 at Warner Park at her prime.

(1997-2011)

Dear sweet girl:

Heaven will have lots of sunshine for lay-lay sun-sun, plenty of trails to explore just like you used to do for miles with Daddy, a swimming hole as shady and lovely as your favorite spot at the park, a lush green meadow to romp in, and treats for days.

You’ll be able to chase your tail again like a whirling dervish and play fetch and there will be a never ending supply of fresh tennis balls. You’ll no longer struggle to walk or hurt or be unable to jump or play.

We love you so much sweet girl.

Thank you for being with us through so many seasons of our life and our marriage over the past 13 years. You were our first baby. You were our first in-common experience with caring for and loving another being with all our hearts. I never knew it would be this difficult to let you go.

Today is a beautiful day and you spent your last seconds of life on the front porch in the spring sun.

We will never, ever forget you and your special place in our family.

In honor of our Bailey, please consider adopting a pet from your local shelter. We adopted Bailey in December 1997 from the Nashville Humane Association. She has given us a lifetime of love in 13 years.