Happy Day, Sad Day!

What a day! I am so glad this week is over. I hope to start fresh tomorrow. Today is Father's Day and I usually don't mind trying to be nice for this special day. I like it way better than Mother's Day. I knew it would be an emotional day because my brother Len and his wife Julie will be leaving tomorrow morning for the MTC. They will be set apart on Tuesday as Mission President and Julie as his companion for three years in Washington. We had the usual herd of family in and out and I had my parents over for dinner before everyone else showed up for dessert.

The problem was that I had a real crisis brewing in my house. In 1994 Rich bought our first golden retriever named Haley. She was a beautiful and smart dog so I decided I wanted to get a male for her companion pet. I found a handsome, masculine dog and named him Harley. He was the sweetest dog ever and I loved him. Haley was a hunter and would kill everything, but Harley was just a gentle giant of a dog. They ended up having about ten puppies that I sold in about an hour. I was so distraught over loosing the puppies that I went out and bought another female named Hannah in 1996. Well, Haley and Harley have both passed on. This week Hannah, who I knew wasn't doing well, stopped getting up on about Tuesday. She would still eat and drink but I couldn't get her to stand up and get off the porch. She lost all control of her back legs and bladder so she just layed on a carpet rug with flies swarming around her. I tried to call our friend who is a vet but they said he was out of town until Monday. I finally couldn't stand it any longer. She was suffering and I was praying that she would just die on her own. We finally put in a call to the wife's cell phone and she had him call us. He came over tonight and put Hannah to sleep. Why does life have to be so hard? It seems like I ask that everyday. As I was telling my Dad about my sadness, in his wisdom said, "it sounds like death was merciful for her." I am so thankful that Jake took time off from his family on Father's Day to come put her out of her misery. I know the sun will come up tomorrow and Hannah is up with Haley and Harley. I know Len and Julie will do great on their mission. Spencer called tonight and they are bringing their new puppy this week. So I will be back up to four dogs again. I don't know if my heart can do this again. It's too hard saying goodbye.