Out of the Blue
Last month we lost our beloved bearded collie, Paddy. We are still grieving though joy has re-entered our lives. We debated about waiting, but we are not getting younger. So, next month . . .
Sometimes life brings joy out of grief though the grief is still present. My husband and I had to climb out of the grief some way. The house was empty though we were in it. The empty water dish had never been empty before. Everywhere we looked made us tear up. We had said that Paddy would be our last dog be cause of our ripe old age.
After a few days, we began searching online for a cuddle pup in the local shelter. None. We looked at older dogs, but they were not trainable by us. Huge adult mixes with no potty training weren’t what we had had for 45 years and 6 beloved bearded collies. No bearded collies were available. Friends offered suggestions for every breed under the sun to help us through our grief.
So, one day last week, we were introduced to a wonderful lady with a litter of all female miniature bernedoodles! All adorable. My husband fell in love with Winnie (as in Winnie the Pooh, of course) after I had secretly fallen in love with her already! She reminded us both of sweet Paddy as a pup because puppy love is puppy love just happens. We threw caution to the wind, and we are bringing Winnie home September 1. We might make it through this election with some puppy distractions, don’t you think?
Our goal is to outlive Winnie, but we know we must make a plan for her adoption by our family or a trusted younger dog-loving friend just in case we both pass or get incapacitated. That we can do. If you have beloved pets, do make a plan for their future regardless of your age. Accidents and deaths happen at any age causing animal shelters to be filled with animals whose owners had no plans or whose relatives didn’t want or couldn’t care for these beloved animals. So tragic.
Thanks for reading. Go love your pets and have a wonderful weekend, dear subscribers, full of good food, good drink, and some family/friend loving!
💙🇺🇸💙 In friendship, Diane
🐾🐾Winnie votes💙🇺🇸💙 with us! 🐾🐾
For new subscribers, here is my 2 July posts about our grief for the best dog we ever had, Paddy. Though we see light in September, we are still grieving and will always love Paddy, the sweetest boy ever.
When our son moved out into his own place, he took Snowbell(e) the Japanese Akita with him. I lasted about 3 months and we adopted Sully (full name Sullivan) the Lab from a local shelter. He was about 7 at the time. He came fully house trained and has had only the one "accident" when he had diarrhea in the first month. It's just about 2 year now so he's 9 and both Heather and I agree that he is the sweetest guy we know. Since then, Snowbell(e) has developed lymphoma and eventually could no longer walk on her own and had to be put down. He got a Japanese Akita in January of this year.
I am so sorry to read today about Paddy. I sure know this grief. I hope dear, sweet Winnie will help mend some of the pain.