Sad day...

This has been one of those weeks.
It started out so wonderfully, with the much-anticipated arrival of Candace and Caleb for Christmas on December 11. Less than 48 hours later, it turned tragic, with the unexpected death of our dog, Hero.
It is amazing to me, the non-dog-person in the family, that we all miss him so much. We were blessed, really and truly blessed, to have this mutt in our lives for almost 9 years. That is too short of a time. Much as I hated, (hmm maybe that is too strong of a word...so, strongly disliked!) the dog hair that would be almost everywhere - on the floor, on one's clothes, on the furniture- I'd rather have fresh deposits of his dog hair than not have him around. (There is still some on the floors, since no one seems to want to do the "floor chores" and clean it up!)
He died on the 13th, early in the morning. Caleb was with him. He'd gone in for some x-rays and test back in Novemeber, and it seemed that he just never regained his strength. It is like when an older person goes into the hospital for some tests, ends up in a lot of pain, and just never recovers, dying from something seemingly completely unrelated. Nathan asked me if it was "Hero's time" to die, or did we or the vet do something to hasten it. Maybe a combination of both, but it was his time. We have no way of knowing what underlying "things" were going on in his body that the pain from the x-rays just sort of freed up.
If one were to look back on his life, they would see one that was fuller than many humans' lives, which is sort of sad. He traveled to many places in Europe, as well as to the US where he lived with Grandma and Grandpa for a year. He went to summer camp every year and was always the star of at least one camper video. I only know of one person that he did not like; a collegue's son who had teased him when he was a pup.
It was comforting, after we sent out word of his death, to get so many notes from friends and family who had known him, telling stories about Hero or one of his antics. One of my brothers remembers Hero as my Dad's shadow, and as the "garbage disposal"; as Mom says, the plates were always clean when Hero was around! Both sets of his "grandparents" loved him and grieve him as well.
After you read this, go pet your own dog, be thankful that you have him. Then pray for us that we will fully "get over" this...and be able to find a new puppy for the kids (and for the parents too!). It is what Hero would have wanted.