It's So Hard to say Goodbye

It's a little after nine and I'm finally settling down at my keyboard. I hit play on iTunes and take a quick peek at Facebook. I'm doing the expressway scroll because, frankly, there is a lot of crap on FB. Then I see it, A Pioneer Woman post, entitled "A Sad Goodbye" and picture of "Charlie the Ranch Dog" 

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The residents of Romanskiville LOVE Charlie the Ranch Dog .. we have most of the books and some are pretty "loved' - wrinkled and torn from little, excited fingers tearing, I mean, turning pages. 

I love Ree Drummond, she reminds me a little bit of me .. well the straight shooter, tell it like it is part ... the cooking part, not so much. 

As I read the post and she described Basset Hounds, I immediately thought of our friends, Tim and Jeanne, and their beloved Sadie. I stole a Charlie the Ranch dog cookie jar ... from my boss.... in my work Yankee Swap just so that I could gift it to them.  Sadie passed last July and it was like losing our pet. 

As PW talks about Charlie's failing health and having to make "the decision" I'm almost instantly transported back to June 2011 and Storm. I read on and a tear rolls down my cheek...... 

I know it may seem a little silly to be crying over someone else's dog and I'll admit, I'm a little overtired, a little under the weather and Paul's away. Thing is - if you are a dog person - you get it, the pure anguish while you sit with your Storm or Charlie and they take their last breath. You can get another dog, and they fill part of the void, but they never completely fill the hole. 

I think Ree was right on when she said "But anyone who’s ever loved a dog understands that it’s a special kind of loss"  

It is so hard to say goodbye.