Missing Teddy

One year ago tonight, we lost our little buddy Teddy after a game between the Suns and the visiting Hickory Crawdads.
We came home from the game and he needed help.
After a trip to the 24-7 Vet, Teddy was gone as I had to make the toughest decision that pet owners have to make.
More about that night can be found here, but I wanted to write about life without Teddy a year later...

He's missed.
Simplistic, I'm sure, but the house just isn't the house without him.
It's just not the same without that face waiting for me when I come home from work or a ballgame or a trip to the store.
Ed's been helpful, but it's just not the same.
I don't have the little guy hopping up on a couch to lay with me or the running to get tossed popcorn or whatever food item I happened to have at that time and that makes me smile just thinking about it...

We still have not brought home another dog and I'm still not in a hurry to do so.
We have looked around the net a time or two but just haven't been sparked enough to make any movement.
Cherie says she's not sure about another dog with the house eventually being just the two of us.
She thinks that could be a problem when we go away, but I disagree.
When both kids are gone, a dog would be a great bridge to avoid the empty nest syndrome, but that's neither here nor there because in any case, it won't be Teddy.

Loss never is easier to take and the saying "time heals all wounds" just isn't so.
It still hurts a year later and I bet it always hurts.
The loss in my life is beyond words.
I don't think non-pet owners can ever really understand the connection that can happen sometimes.
Not always, I can think of plenty of pet owners that never quite get there and that doesn't make things bad-we don't connect with every family member in our life now do we?
I remember talking about Teddy to Kendall Morris and he said something that stayed with me.
Kendall's family had bought a dog over the previous year or two and he said "I never understood people with a dog or cat and how they took things so personally-Now I do".

I think of my pal every day over the last year and it sometimes makes me laugh, smile, and sometimes even worse.
The time we spent together, I wouldn't trade for anything and his passing cannot take that away.
My religious views are well known, but I'd like to think that my pal is spending his time right now waiting for me at a special back door.

I miss you and I hope to eventually see you again...

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