The Thursday before Christmas Mark and I put our dog of 11 years to sleep. Our DJ. The puppy that has been with us since before we were engaged, before we became Mr. & Mrs., before we ever thought about moving to the suburbs and having a baby. She was one of the first important things we chose together. She was with us during the sometimes tough years when we were first married and in the busy years afterward when Mark was in Advertising and I was at work during the day and at school most nights.
We called her our "Bubba" and treated her like our baby. She loved stealing socks from the first day we brought her home and she could roll over when asked but usually chose not to. She was always an independent girl; however, she would sit at your feet all day as long as you were petting her. She went into a frenzy every time Brad came to the house - even recently. We taught her how to growl on command (a mistake) and poured all of our love into her (never a mistake). Several years later, we ended up getting Scratch to keep her company though, in hindsight, she would have been happier alone. She never did like sharing us.
DJ knew us from the beginning. She witnessed the evolution of our marriage and she was a constant in our lives. I miss having her in the house. These last few years have been a challenge. She was a little grouchy in her old age and she was never fond of Milo. I worried that she would bite him but we never put her out of the house. Somehow that would have felt like a betrayal.
As I watched Milo sit and feed Scratch her breakfast yesterday kibble by kibble (something DJ would have never tolerated), it struck me that I am thankful I don't have to watch him so closely now. I am not happy for the reason though. DJ was our first and will always be that for us. We miss you Bubba.
The Thursday before Christmas Mark and I put our dog of 11 years to sleep. Our DJ. The puppy that has been with us since before we were engaged, before we became Mr. & Mrs., before we ever thought about moving to the suburbs and having a baby. She was one of the first important things we chose together. She was with us during the sometimes tough years when we were first married and in the busy years afterward when Mark was in Advertising and I was at work during the day and at school most nights.
We called her our "Bubba" and treated her like our baby. She loved stealing socks from the first day we brought her home and she could roll over when asked but usually chose not to. She was always an independent girl; however, she would sit at your feet all day as long as you were petting her. She went into a frenzy every time Brad came to the house - even recently. We taught her how to growl on command (a mistake) and poured all of our love into her (never a mistake). Several years later, we ended up getting Scratch to keep her company though, in hindsight, she would have been happier alone. She never did like sharing us.
DJ knew us from the beginning. She witnessed the evolution of our marriage and she was a constant in our lives. I miss having her in the house. These last few years have been a challenge. She was a little grouchy in her old age and she was never fond of Milo. I worried that she would bite him but we never put her out of the house. Somehow that would have felt like a betrayal.
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