I wanted to share a story of our dear friends in Carmel Valley~Aletha and I have been friends for 51 yrs, get that! We've grown through our teens, marriage, having babies to now having empty nests. Aletha and I have always been dog lovers and watched as each family have gone through the different stages of life with dogs. There is a saying I heard about loving dogs, "You show a dog the greatest love on the day you adopt them and on the day you let them go". It is so gut-wrenching to make that decision for a companion that has spent many, many years with your family. Yesterday, Aletha and Dave had to set Tucker free, to run over the Rainbow Bridge and run free. Here is a picture of Aletha and Dave's dogs-Tucker, a Jack Russell Terrier is on the left and their cute dog Ruby(who they've entered in Ugly Dog Competitions), a mix is on the right. It seems Tucker has been with them forever, although it has only been 16.5 yrs. In this photo, he really reminds me of Reggie, my sister's dog that we adopted after she passed away.
Here is Dave with Ruby; she is the sweetest dog I've ever met, other than Hunter. They almost named her Yoda due to her ears. Seriously, Aletha will say that she is so ugly that she is cute. It is true, but her personality more than makes up for her appearance.
The memories of Tucker will eventually bring smiles, but for now it's just sadness. When we had our Sadie, the two would play and chase each other. Tucker was such a fun loving dog, filled with endless energy and brought their family so much laughter and love. I will be honest and say that I've shed some tears for our friends as they walked through this process with Tucker. Aletha and I have a saying, in fact we have a sign that reads "Life Without Dogs, I don't think so."
So today, I say Run Free Tucker!
Hope you give any pets an extra squeeze today. I sure have given Hunter tons over the last two days.
Hugs,
Noreen
