It was a sad day this last Monday at the Mac House.  We had to say good-bye to our first baby, Miss Sadie May.  She was 15 years old and it was time, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

Sadie was dealing with typical old-dog health problems and slowed down each winter.  This last winter has been tough on her and I knew that we had a decision to make soon.  The end of life decision is the very worst and hardest part of pet ownership, but I do feel that we handled it well.

The kids are handling it well.  They had the opportunity to say good-bye and give her pets before we went to the vet. They’ve been a little bit sad and have had lots of questions about life and death in trying to understand it all. In all honesty, Sadie wasn’t all that attached to the children.  She was the first baby in the family and she always resented being bumped from the position.  She accepted the children, but she didn’t really enjoy the kids.

J and I, on the other hand, are pretty broken up.  We’re just trying to remember the good times with our sweet doggie girl – how she used to dance on her hind legs like a circus dog, how she always stretched before standing up, how she used to bound like a greyhound at the beach.  We reminisced about the time when I opened my eyes after meditating to find her sitting on the yoga mat in front of me, about to reach up and lick my nose.  About how she used to sneak on the furniture and we only knew that she did it because she left a big drool spot and white hairs.  She was our constant companion on walks, hikes, camping trips, beach trips, outings to parks and anything else we could take her too.