RIP Pearl the Dog, 1999-2012

[Undertoad]

I thank everybody for your thoughts. You are touching. You are important to me.

It makes me wish I would have shared more of her story during her life.

Of course, what I would have shared would have been my life, reflected in her story. I guess that's what it's really all about, to some degree...?

When I miss her now, it's when she would have been there... and isn't. When I finish a dinner she liked the smell of, and when she would have loved to lick that plate. When I get under the covers and there isn't a little dog wanting to get under the covers too. When I hear a noise that maybe she would have created -- but no, it's just a random noise, not the Boston Terrier snort behind the corner.

It's not fair to reflect on this now and not have reflected on it so much more when she was around.

The girl was headed downhill for so long that I was ready. Strong enough to handle the emergency euthanasia and still hold it together to manage the plumbing emergency that night. I really did get to have an extra six months with her. And that was what was beautiful. The "extra inning" thread, that was really what it was all about. Not this one.