Missing Her

The things that absolutely drove me crazy about Ruby are the things I now miss. OK, I don't miss her tail whacking the wall and my leg and Easton's face but I miss other stuff. (To find out more about her death skip the Country Dweller blog and scroll down one more.) Rob and I laughed about how when she wagged her tail her entire body wagged. She was that happy....all the time. She would jump on people when she got too excited to see them. I would give almost anything to have her huge paws on my belly for a quick second, the way she used to do. One of her greatest jobs in life was to clean up after the boys when they were done eating. She'd try to wait patiently but sometimes her excitement would get the better of her. Easton would start screaming in protest as she pushed his high chair around, trying to eat the food that had dropped under his legs. Tonight when I had to clean up the high chair seat I cried. When she'd lay down in our room and fall asleep she was the loudest sleeping dog I've ever been around. I don't know what recurring dream she had but it would make her twitch and yelp until one of us would wake her up. Without fail, every time she fell asleep she'd whimper and move around. Since she slept with P, he'd often wake the next morning telling me he was tired because she kept him up making noise. Just about every morning she'd disappear for a few minutes. When I'd go to take my shower I'd see the reason for her disappearance....to drag Rob's towel from the previous night out of the bathroom. She never did anything more than drag it into our room but it used to drive me crazy. Now I realize how silly I was for getting worked up about such a minor thing. Another habit of hers was grabbing the dirty paper towels out of the garbage can and shredding them. It would infuriate me when she'd do it. Now I wouldn't mind seeing bits of paper towel lying at the base of the garbage can. She thought she was a big lap dog. The minute I sat down she'd come over and put her head on my lap. She loved attention and any kind of affection you'd give her. Oh how I miss that big, goofy Lab of ours. In time I know the pain will ease but for right now the memories flood me and cause me to shed a few tears here and there. Oh Ruby girl, your life was cut too short and we miss you terribly.