Losing a cherished pet ...

On Friday evening, we lost a cherished family pet. Our Abby was 16 years old in April (that's 112 in human years!!) and she was a big, patient, sweet-natured family dog that our daughters had known all their lives.

Her gait had become slow these past years, her face developed a distinguished white mask, and she was content to sleep most of the day in a sunny spot on the floor. We knew this day was coming ... and we were dreading it. What a difficult decision to make.

On Thursday, she stumbled many times throughout the day, and she was noticeably becoming weaker as the day wore on. She winced more often, and whimpered when we touched her.

The kids went to school on Friday, and called home several times to check on her. Knowing that she was in pain and uncomfortable, we made that very difficult decision to have her put to sleep.

The kids were unconsolable when we left the house. The vet was very compassionate and explained what to expect - that she would become very tired and fall asleep ... forever. We held her face, and looked into her eyes, and tried to soothe her tremors and her fear. She relaxed into our hands, looked into our eyes, and took one last deep breath. And then ... oh how we cried.

The house just isn't the same without her. This morning, I woke up and instinctively listened for her to stamp her feet at the front door, before I realized she wasn't here anymore. We are all missing her.