Miles Graduates!!!

Wednesday night, Miles had his graduation from Preschool. The next time he goes to school, it will be KINDERGARTEN!!

He was so proud of himself. He enjoyed performing for the audience and he was quite a ham! He has come a long way in Preschool. At the beginning of the year, his teacher said he played by himself a lot, and was hesitant to make friends. He cried a lot when I dropped him off.

Now, he has a lot of great friends he has made at school, and he looked forward to going. He even wants me to take him back there for VBS this summer!

Quite a milestone, for all of us. Clif and I realized that we won't make another tuition payment for our kids education until Emory enters college as a freshman. Whoo-hoo!!!

Our Best Friends

It has been a long time since I last updated this blog. For good reason. There has been a big whole in my heart and I didn't know if I had the words to talk about it. This winter we lost 2 members of our family. Jack, my couch buddy, went to dog heaven on February 5. And Bailey, our affectionate one, joined Jack on March 27. They were such a big part of our lives, and we miss they so much. Jack had been with me even before I married Clif. And Bailey was the first addition to our family after we got married. They were the best of friends, and it is fitting that they left us together.

Up until Christmas, we never noticed any failing health with either dog. But in January, Jack was diagnosed with heart disease and we were told to enjoy him for about 6 more months. 1 month later, he was unable to lay down, eat, drink water, or even be held. He had only hours left....

Two weeks later, we noticed Bailey acting strange. We figured she was grieving. But each week, something new was ailing her. We later found out that she had a mass growing on her head and she was too old to have it removed. She started having seizures, stopped eating and was rapidly declining. On a Sunday morning, Clif and I made the difficult decision to have her join her best friend. We held her as she took her last breaths. I spent the 10 most miserable minutes of my life in the parking lot of that vet clinic. It hurt so bad.

I can still feel Jack sitting on my lap, I can still feel myself playing with his flopping ears. I can still feel Bailey's soft hair and her wet nose on my arm as she tried to get my attention for me to pet her more. The while hair right behind her ears was the softest.

I got Jack a can of tennis balls for Christmas the he never got to fetch. I miss throwing the ball for him and the wholes he would tear in the yard trying to bury his ball. I miss taking Bailey on walks and I miss seeing her play in the snow. I called her my snow dog.

I saw a woman walking her miniature dachsund the other day on the way to work, and I just broke down crying in the car. I am not done healing yet. I don't allow myself a lot of tears. But there are still more to shed.

I am not ready to move on. I don't want another dog. I just want Bailey and Jack back.