Losing a Loved One

In the early hours of Friday morning one of our family members passed away unexpectedly. It was a four legged family member but a family member none the less. Thursday evening, right before we left for P's baseball game, Ruby came in the house panting heavily and foaming at the mouth. It was a hot day so I thought she'd just got overheated while playing with the neighborhood kids (She never knew a stranger and loved playing with kids!). But by the time we got home from the game she could barely walk. Rob was at work so I texted him and told him to call me immediately. He did and I told him the situation. He asked me to monitor her and keep him updated. She went back and forth for the next few hours, from not being able to stand to walking around the backyard and getting a drink of water. By the time I went to bed, a little before midnight, I thought she was coming back around and would be fine but Rob reassured me he'd check on her when he got home. Fast forward a couple short hours later. She wasn't doing well and we realized she wasn't going to make it. When she passed away Rob took her to a place he knew she'd love and laid her to rest. We stayed up the rest of the night, talking about her and the fact that we'd have to tell P when he woke up. You see, when we first got married I had a dog, Roxy. After I became pregnant with P we went to get Rob's dog, Holly, from MS. But when Ruby came along she quickly became P's dog. Those two were inseparable! She drove me crazy with not minding and hitting her tail on everything but I had no doubt that she'd protect the boys with her life. She never hesitated to put herself in danger for them. When P woke up Friday he immediately asked to see Ruby, asking if he could get close to her since I had told him he had to stay away from her the night before. Rob gently told him that Ruby had gone to be with Holly (our Lab that we had to put done last Spring once we found she was riddled with cancer). As expected, he sobbed in Rob's arms for about 20 minutes. Then he crawled into my lap and asked to see pictures of her. Surprisingly he went about the rest of his day as if nothing was wrong. I attributed it to not being able to say goodbye to her, not knowing she was knocking on heaven's door. But last night, as I was reading him his Bible story, he broke down and started crying again. He said he wouldn't be able to sleep because Ruby wasn't there to protect him. Once again Rob stepped in and gently reminded P that Ruby would be his guardian angel dog. That calmed him down and he was able to go to sleep without a problem. This morning he's talked about her and how much he misses her. Our morning walks aren't the same without her. Fetcha, our adopted stray dog, is depressed without her and keeps looking for her. It's going to take awhile to adjust to our happy, sweet, hyper dog no longer being with us. She was a one of a kind and she will be greatly missed!