Goodbye Sweet Golden Girl

For the past couple of years, every time I go home, I always think to myself, "Will this be the last time I see our Golden Girl?" Quite obviously, dog's life spans are not very long and after Goldie hit the 10 year mark, you could tell her age was catching up with her. Her face began to gray and she had a hard time getting her back legs steady. She seemed quite content to just rest during the day and if she would get a burst of energy, she would wrestle around with the little dogs for a while in the evening. When we were home a few weeks ago, it was pretty obvious that this would indeed be the last time we were going to see her. I'm honestly surprised we didn't lose her then. Time caught up with her, and this evening, during supper, mom called to tell us that Goldie had passed away. I wasn't surprised but it still breaks my heart. We have had her since I was in sixth grade. For thirteen years, she has been a part of our family. I know, some will say, "It's just a dog, what's the big deal." No, she never said a word, but made it very obvious through her actions, that she loved our family and would protect us until the end. There were many of my friends who were afraid to come into our house with out me there because Goldie scared them. When I was in high school, Dad took G out for a run and when he came back, someone was breaking into our shed. Goldie took off after them and as they jumped the fence, she ripped their shoe right off of their foot. I guarantee they were lucky, that they were halfway over the fence when they were. As protective as she was, she would never so much as flench around little kids. They could pull her tail and crawl all over her and she would just sit there and let them. It always amazed me that she could tell who was a threat and who wasn't. She had all of our hearts, but most certainly she had Kyler's. For some reason, he attached to her like she was "his dog," even though she was the family dog. He even had some of his senior pictures taken with her! Even when her health began to decline, he almost wouldn't (or didn't want to) believe it. He always said "But the vet says she has the teeth of a two year old." Yes, the teeth, but not the body! As her body really began to fail her, when we were home in March, she would need help getting out of the house to go outside to go to the bathroom. Dad would carry her out, down the garage steps, and out into the backyard, and when she was finished, he would carry her back into the house again. It's pretty obvious that she was well loved! It's going to be so different when we go home to not have G dog there to greet us, but it was her time and unfortunately we couldn't keep her forever. The saying goes "all dogs go to heaven." Is it true? Who knows, but I like to think they do. Maybe, just maybe, we'll see our sweet girl again someday!