16 Days Later....

16 days ago my sweet Jax crossed the rainbow bridge.  I've been so busy since my last post that I haven't had time to really think about losing him.  Between church duties and cakes, it's kept my mind busy which is a good thing.  But tonight as I walked in the door, sadness swept across my heart.  I miss my sweet Jax!  He wasn't there to greet me, jumping up and down because I am home.  I've noticed it before, but tonight it hit me like a ton of bricks.  So I went to my room and watched the Jax movie that I made the day we buried him....and I cried.  Probably one of the hardest cries since he died.  I've realized it's ok to mourn a pet...they are family.  If we're honest with ourselves we love our pets more than some family members, but we won't name any names.  Pets, dogs especially come to you with unconditional love.  No matter what you do to them, they still love you.  They want to be near you and to protect you and in Jax's case, he wanted to lick the hide off your arm in the most loving of ways!  ha

It's been so rainy and yucky that I haven't had time to fix up his "grave" and take a picture.  I'll wait until spring when the grass is green and the trees are full of leaves.  He loved the summertime.  He loved lying in the grass or on the porch.  He would stay outside for hours in the spring, summer and fall....winter he hovered over the air vent in the "cave" (the space behind dad's recliner).  I'm also looking at something we can add to the front porch or flower bed in his memory.  But until then, I'll just look through old pictures and remember my sweet Bubby.

A Child with Four Legs

Night is the hardest when you miss someone.  You've been busy all day, and suddenly you slow down and your mind wanders.  Tonight I'm wondering if I'm acting crazy.  A blog because I lost my dog?  Depressed because my dog died?  It sounds crazy, but I know any other pet owner would feel the same way....especially if your dog got sick suddenly and died slowly, like Jax.  I wonder, "will people think I'm crazy, going on and on about a dog?!  There are people out there who don't go on and on this much and they have lost their children!"  But at 33 years old, God hasn't seen fit for a husband and kids to enter into my life yet.  However, 5 years ago, he saw fit for this scrawny pit-mix dog to show up at our house and start eating our chicken feed.  Not our chickens like all the other stray dogs, but their feed.  God sent Jax to us so that we could love on him, kiss on him, and take care of him for the next 5 years, because I know he had been abused before finding us.  God took him away from the evil and sent him to the good.  Jax was my "child".

So picking up on Jax's story....

The next morning was a Saturday and our vet clinic is first come, first serve.  Jeff and I got the pup there around 9:30.  I remember it so vividly because we sat there until around 1 before they got to us!  It was extremely busy that day.  When we went in everyone fell in with him.  They asked for his name, but we didn't have one.  He was just a stray that came up and we hated to see him hurt.  But we weren't planning to keep him, so no need for a name!  Don't get attached.  After some x-rays the doctor informed us that his leg was in fact infected, but it wasn't from a bite.  Someone had shot him with bird shot.  The bone was shattered and in hundreds of tiny pieces....there wasn't much they could do.  He gave us the option that he could clean the leg up and splint it, letting the tiny pieces fuse together on their on.  So we said ok.  So they put him to sleep and cleaned the metal out of his leg.  Gave him some IV antibiotics and kept him until Monday.

Monday afternoon, dad went to pick the dog up.  Once they got home, we were all out on the porch.  Mom asked, "so, what are you going to do with the dog now?"  To which he replied, "Well if someone wants him now, they are gonna have to give me my $250 back."  Needless to say, we had a new pet.  Now to a name....

Well my mother has name just about every pet we've ever owned!  My cat Lucy, that was all her.  Rosalie....her again (except she wanted to spell it Rosalee but I chose Rosalie due to my love of Twilight) So this time, it was my turn.  Before she had time to come up with a name, I chose my favorite TV character.....JAX! (Jax Teller, SOA)

Waiting to see the vet

 He was hot and hid under the bushes

 But he loved to sun bathe too!

 Meet Jax, our new pup!

 This is what happy looks like!

5 Years Earlier...

So, I'm no profound author.  But I feel the need to write, in hopes it will help.  So let's begin....

Hello, I'm Emily.  You're probably wondering why I started this blog.  I'm hoping to find peace.  I lost my fur-baby over the weekend.  His loss has effected me far greater than I imagined.  So I kept having these thoughts in my head, much like a book or blog, so I decided to write them down.  Here goes nothing....

5 Years Earlier...

It was early April 2013.  Mom noticed something was getting in her chicken feed while we were gone.  But we didn't know what it was...I mean....what would eat chicken feed but not the chickens?  So we told Zach's nurses to keep an eye out for anything out there.  That night, Jerry told us that he saw an old dog out there.  He said he looked hurt because he was limping around, but when he went out there the dog ran off.  Well that night when Dad got home from work, he saw the dog and captured it.  Now I've known my dad for many years, and usually if something is bothering our chickens or something he'll put it down. But for some reason, this dog was different.  Instead, he put him in our dog cage....you know the one with the really nice doggie condo that was supposed to be fore Rosalie, but she used it like 3 times...  So on April 12, 2013, I met the dog for the first time.  Mom had already said, "Don't get attached, he's not staying here."  This dog was so scared, and looked up at me with the saddest eyes I have ever seen.  He knew he was in trouble, and I'm sure he figured he would be killed.  After we looked at him closer, and in the day light we could see that his legs were covered with scars, and his right front leg looked to be infected from what we assumed was bite mark.  It looked as if he was a pit mix, and we assumed he had been used as a fighting dog.  So dad and I decided to take him to the vet the next morning and see if they could do something about his infected leg.

I'll stop here and we'll pick up later....