My heart is literally hurting...

Today has been a rough day.  Last night we had to say farewell to our beloved dog-child Chance.  I feel sick to my stomach, don't want to eat and can't stop crying and just when I think I'm ok I'll see something totally random that reminds me of him and I start crying again.  I was up all night, not with a crying baby, she was sleeping like...well, a baby.  But I could not sleep as I kept wondering if we did the right thing, swearing and secretly wishing that every creak and bump that I heard in the night was him fidgeting at our bedside.

See we've had Chance for nearly 10 1/2 years so he's officially a founding member of the Randazzo family.  The Italian adopted Chance one day and we went on our first date the very next and the 3 of us have been pretty much inseparable ever since.  Chance was a rescue pup at the age of 1 and boy the family who gave him up sure are suckers.  Their loss was definitely our gain!  He's our first child and will always hold a special place in our hearts.  It makes me so sad that Nicolette will never know how great Chance was.  He will always be our most special puppy.

We love you Chance.  

"This is really what the "quality of life" issue is all about.  By usurping nature's role throughout the life of our pets, we must sometimes also accept its role in determining (and bringing about) the death of a pet.  To accept this, we may also have to accept that, in some cases, the quality of life we're really trying to protect is our own:  That we're allowing our pet to suffer out of a desire to avoid the anguish we know that we will experience when it dies.  

And that, ultimately, is the most unselfish act of love we can offer:  To end a pet's suffering, we must choose to accept our own"

~Moira Allen

The Pet Loss Support Page