There's Nothing Like Kindness

After today, I won't dwell with you on the loss of my sweet dog, Apollo. But I wanted to share a few things before I move on.

Friday was a really horrible day. I seriously felt like I cried out every single tear I possibly could that day. My two older kids were also devastated when they found out Apollo was leaving us and many tears were shed. All three of us had huge crying headaches by the end of the day. Nicholas was quite confused the whole time, and is still asking when we are bringing Apollo home.

Friday, we went as a family to say goodbye to Apollo. She came into the room with an IV -- just like someone in the hospital with an IV on a rolling cart. She was so happy to see us, but honestly, I could tell she wasn't feeling well. We spent a bit of time with her, then I sent the kids out with Matt and I stayed with her until the end. It haunts me a little -- but I think I needed to be with her.

On the way home, Ryan cried and cried until he finally decided he couldn't be so sad anymore. All on his own, he decided, "Mom, I really want Apollo here with us, but I am going to feel happy that Apollo is in heaven now with the babies you lost. They can have a turn being with her and Apollo will be happy." I was so glad he found a way to comfort himself and I thought it was really sweet.

As soon as we got home Rachel drew this picture. You can see she drew herself with a sad face and Apollo with an arrow pointing to a cloud with an "h" for Heaven. She misses her dog a lot. We all do.
I know it will get easier, but for now we are realizing how much a part our dog was of our daily routine. We keep catching ourselves looking for her behind her favorite chair or thinking we forgot to let her out before bedtime.

We have a new neighbor who is recently widowed and also a huge animal lover. She has four dogs and three cats. She and my kids fell in love with each other immediately and I'm telling you, she is truly one of THE nicest people I have ever met in my life. We have only known her a few months and when she found out about Apollo, she invited the kids over for a donut party. She had decorated her kitchen table with ribbons like confetti and had their favorite donuts. She also had wrapped presents (books) for each of them and on Nick's present she taped at least a dozen pennies in a design, because Nicholas is addicted to pennies. Once her dogs warmed up to us, spending time with them was actually a really happy thing for my kids. The dogs crawled in their laps, gave them kisses and my kids were grinning from ear to ear. She has a Bull Mastiff that is 100 pounds, so we kept the kids away from her just because she is big and likes to jump. I however, spent some time with the big dog and she put her front paws in my lap and snuggled her big puppy head on my shoulder like she wanted to comfort me. She was the sweetest thing and those puppy snuggles did me a world of good.

This act of kindness by my neighbor (and her mother, who lives with her) touched my heart in such a big way. She barely knows us, but here she is going completely out of her way to cheer us up. That is the kind of person I want to be.

Finally -- thank you all SO, so much for your kind words, hugs and prayers. It really has helped and I appreciate it more than words can convey.

I hope you've enjoyed your weekend. I will be back soon and I promise to be back to my usual mindless chatter! No more sadness....life goes on.

(((BIG hugs))) to all -- have a great week!