One last goodbye

Ex, schmecks, schmecky schmeck schmeckers, poopy, poop-face, baby boy…

Echo.

The dog with many names, oh how I will miss calling him those.

I never thought that I would devote a blog post to my dog, but I also never knew that it would hurt this much.

Pets suck. They make you fall in love with them. They cuddle with you. They give you unexpected kisses. They wag their tails. They run around and have fun.

Then they get old. They still get excited when you walk in the door; it’s just a little slower.
Then they get even older, and that excitement turns into a simple head lift as their tired body is lying down.

And then they get to the point where you can tell they are suffering. And you know you have to take them to the vet, but you don’t want to because you know what the outcome is going to be.  And every part of your body wants you to be selfish and make them stay with you longer… just one more day. But you know you can’t. You know what’s best.

And that sucks.

Around 10:00am Wednesday the 15^th, I had to say goodbye to my puppy one last time. I had to squeeze him one last time. I had to give him a kiss one last time.

This dog… the dog that has been with me through my awkward Jr. High years. The one who was there throughout high school. The one who welcomed me back from Sweden. The one who I got to see for just one more day when I came back from college.

This dog has managed to break my heart.

I knew this day was coming, and I tried to prepare myself. As I was making the 9 hour car trip back home on Tuesday, I knew it most likely would happen this summer… I thought that I wanted him to pass before I got home. I knew how hard it would be for me to have to say goodbye to him, knowing it would be my last time. But now that his time has actually come, I am so thankful that I got one more night with him, and that I got to hold him one more time.

I never knew one little dog could make me cry so much.

He will be missed.

I love you poop-face.