When Alan was 17 he used some of his hard earned money to buy a hunting dog. Buddy quickly become not just Alan’s dog but the family dog as well. We all got pretty attached to him. After 15.5 years with our family Buddy died in his sleep last night. He hadn’t been doing well for quite some time so it was probably the best thing for him.
This morning I asked Lily if she remembered who Buddy was. She said, “Yeah grandma’s dog.” I corrected her simply by explaining that he was Alan’s dog but lived with grandma and grandpa because Alan didn’t have room for him at his apartment. I then told her he had died and we wouldn’t see him anymore when we went and visited grandma. I could see that she was shocked, but what came out of her mouth made me smile. With a quivery voice she asked, “But how is going to eat bones anymore?” When we visited mom and dad’s house it was always her job to feed Bud bones, so I’m not surprised she latched on to this particular thought.
I’ve been kind of melancholy all day thinking about Bud, but I looking at these pictures made me smile. It will be weird not seeing Bud when we go visit mom and dad, but I guess that is just the way things go sometimes.
