Boone

Dear Boone,

I miss you.

Do you know why we got you? We needed another dog for KT. We wanted a pal for her when we were gone. Also, that girl cannot fetch, swim, or relax to save her life. We figured another dog like you could help with that.

We were worried because a puppy can be hard work. But you ended up being the best puppy. You learned everything so quickly. You could sit and stay and not bite and come when called. You cuddled with us all the time. You loved everyone. You were so happy when we came home. You always looked satisfied no matter where you went, but I think you were just happy to be with us. We were happy to be with you, too!

We loved you even though you had your quirks. You were the only puppy with stinky puppy breath. You constantly ran your head into our sliding glass door when you wanted inside. You chewed on the wall outside, dug up our sprinkler line, pulled up every single solar lamp in the garden just to pile them around you on your bed like some sort of makeshift lamp castle, and exponentially raised the amount of poop in our backyard. Wouldn’t a second dog just multiply the poop? How did a second dog raise the amount of poop to the 2^nd power?

The day we lost you, I remember thinking that very morning, “Maybe we weren’t ready for two dogs but now I can’t imagine it any other way.” Isn’t that funny how the Universe sends us little signals? It was like in that moment I needed to know that you were such a wonderful addition to our little family.

And you really were such a wonderful addition. I like to think that God needed just one more puppy and you were perfect.

KT still can’t fetch. Of course you had a tough time with that, too. You are a retriever! Retrieve! Maybe you just liked the idea of watching us fetch, instead. She still doesn’t swim but at least she ducks her head in the water and tries to eat rocks. That’s something right? After you left, she started cuddling with us a lot more. Thank you for teaching her that. I have definitely needed some extra KT cuddles these last few weeks.

We have all gotten back to some sort of normal routine after you left. We still think about you a lot and miss you all the time. We wanted you to be in our family for a long time. Now you will be us all the time, forever.

So do you know why we really got you? Because we needed you for more reasons than you know.  You helped us grow our family when we weren’t able to. Maybe people might think that we were taking care of you but I think it was you that was taking care of us.

Thank you for being a part of our family, even if we only got to have you for a very short time.  I am so grateful for the time I got with you. I wish it was more, but I suppose that is one more thing your life and death has taught us. 

We miss you, Boone.

Love,

E. A. KT.