Goodbye Aspen....

When you make the decision to get a pet, you are not thinking about how you feel when the pet dies.

The excitement, the newness, the new puppy smell, the middle of the night barks while your new puppy gets used to his little crate next to your bed.

It's exhausting, yet exhilarating, at first.

Lem and I got Aspen, our Siberian husky, after we had only been married for one month.

She was our very first baby. Our first step to having a family.

Aspen never left my chest the first few weeks.

Then she got big.

Much bigger.

The next year, we got our sweet Jack Russell, Holly.

It took them a little while to adjust to each other, then they were soon best of friends.

Holly was so tiny, but she would bark at Aspen, right in her face. It was hilarious. {see picture below}

Then we built a house in 2000.

We got busier.

We had our first child in 2001.

Lem became the main care giver of our two dogs and our cat, Tiger, by this point.

I still loved our pets, but I had a newborn. My life was a bit different.

Lem became both of their masters.

I was a little jealous at first, but I was really too busy to let it affect me.

They have lived with us. They have {all 3 of  our pets} lived in every house we have ever lived in.

4 so far.

Our cat, Tiger, died a few months ago. It was very sudden and very sad. He was about 17 years old.

He had a good, long life.

Our sweet Aspen, the Siberian husky, died today.

It is very very hard.

She was a part of our family.

She has been with us since the month after Lem and I began our life together.

She has always been with us. Always.

She annoyed me at times, because she shed like a sheep. Her white fur would be all over my hard wood floors. And my clothing. Everywhere.

I will miss that fur.

I will miss her.

Our sweet Holly, the Jack Russell, will begin a new season of life without her friends.

I am sad for her.

I am just plain sad.

The lump in my throat is bigger than the state of Georgia.

My nose is dripping as I type.

Animals become family.

Our Aspen has probably found some very cold, white, snow in Heaven to frolic around in. She and Tiger, our cat, are together again.

They were actually the best of friends. They would snuggle together in the cold months. It was so precious.

Okay, lump is coming in my throat again.

Goodbye, Aspen. We will see you again. I just know we will.

The week we brought her home.
1998

Lem and his girl, Aspen

Holly barking at Aspen
1999