it’s now been over a week since lucky passed, and already time has begun to heal us. [if you want to read about how he died, i told the story in this post last week.] it still makes me sick and sad to think about how he passed away and that he still should have had 5 or more years to live, but there have been several reminders lately in my life that we need to keep things in perspective, because he was indeed just a dog [even if it’s hard for me to say that because it sure doesn’t feel like he was just a dog]. but we’ve been able to celebrate the life he did have in all of our thoughts and stories and photos and memories, and that has made me smile.
this little puppy brother of mine, well, he was one of a kind. such a personality he had! we always knew exactly how he felt about everything at any given moment because he was so expressive… i’ve never met a dog who could make so many different sounds. he grunted and groaned and sang and whined and sighed and purred and cried like a baby sometimes. and when he was happy, you never saw a smile so big. anyway, i do want to record as many memories of him that i can, especially because he’s been such a major part of my childhood and adult life.
as i had mentioned before, all of our family traditions involved him, and he was truly like the baby of our family – he would get so excited about the littlest things and at holidays and parties, and it made us excited about them too. we all cared for him, and he loved the attention from all of us. i was thirteen and mike was ten when we got him, so it feels like he has been there for everything. when i think about it, he knew my junior high boyfriend, he was practically family to my first serious boyfriend who i dated all through high school, and he met my last couple of boyfriends, which my parents can’t even say!! and the same goes for all the other changes that have happened throughout these years – he’s been there for them and for us. he’s been our constant in good times and in hard times, always sweet, very predictable, always ready to brighten our day and make us feel happier at any given moment. one of the hard things for us was the realization that there will never be another dog in our life that feels like he belongs to all four of us – now it will be either my parents’ dog, or my brother’s dog, or my dog. people always thought that lucky lived with me because i talked about him like he was mine – we all did. he was ours. there will never be another pup that’s tied to our family of four like lucky was.
but that just makes him all the more special. and to honor him and remember him, i want to do a series of posts called the best of lucky. we have so many photos of him – some cute, some downright hilarious, and i hope you don’t mind me sharing them on here, along with stories and thoughts about him so that we’ll always have a record of these memories and how he impacted our little family.
all these posts may seem a bit over the top, BUT 1.) i think it’s part of the grieving process, and it’s nice to reminisce and remind myself that he had a wonderful life with us, 2.) as mentioned above, i want to remember everything about him, and this blog is a memory keeper, and 3.) i’ve written two very lengthy posts on lucky does dallas – basically photo essays on a weekend of adventures that i spent with him, so are you really surprised that i’m being over the top about this?? ;) he was a pretty cool dog, and i just have to share. i can’t help it…
this post contains some of my favorite selfies with lucky, and i’m trying to stick with certain themes for the upcoming luckydog posts. anyway, i hope they will make you smile, chuckle, maybe even LOL. :) he gave us great joy, and i want to pass that on. and love on your own pups a little extra for my family and me, okay? rest well, little angel dog. xoxo