| ^I still remember when I was 8 years old, the night that we had to have my first black lab (Roxy) put down. She was about 14 at the time (which is OLD for a Lab), and she had grown a large mass inside of her hip. Unfortunately by the time we recognized that something was wrong and took her to the vet, it was at the point that she could not eat or drink. The vet told us that while they could do surgery to remove it, because Roxy was so old she would most likely die during surgery. My dad opted to have her put down and save her the pain of surgery.
Eerily, the night that this happened my family had just returned from Modesto, visiting my grandma, with a brand new black lab puppy. It wasn't the same, but it sure was nice to have a puppy to cuddle with when my mom told us the bad news. We got the yellow lab two years later. It's amazing how much happier dogs are when they have another dog to play with.
I remember reading in one of my favorite books...the girl had befriended a flock of sparrows, and her favorite one died. She had the following conversation with one of her friends:
"It hurts so badly when they leave."
"I know. But think how boring our lives would be without them." |