Braving Transition: Goodbye Ned

I took this a couple of month before he died..his typical back rub.

Last week we lost our Ned. Our beloved American Foxhound-Lab mix got hit by a vehicle. He had been living with my in-laws since April of last year when we moved and could not have either of our dogs with us in our temporary house. However, they loved living on the farm. What dog wouldn't love the freedom to roam around so much land, take walks in the woods, jump over creeks, and occasionally get dirty by jumping in the swampy pond? They loved it so much that our other dog, Memphis, would run away from us when we would visit--thinking we were taking him back to where he would have to be in a small yard or in the house.

His usual sleeping spot under our desk.

Ned was the most lovable dog I have met despite being a whopping 85 pounds. When I would read my daughter her books at night I would kneel next to her bed. Ned would come upstairs and push his head under my arm and look at the book while I read to her. Often, he would snuggle up to our daughter when she would lay on the floor and then proceed to roll on his back and insist on a belly rub. His favorite place to sleep was under our desk. We tried to buy him a bed several times and always within a week he would chew it up. He always seemed OK without one. He would get a huge grin on his face when he was happy and we would say, "Ned's a HAPPY DOG!". He hated having wet paws so going outside in snow or rain was horrible for him. His worst moment? Grabbing a plate full of steaks off the counter before we put them on the grill and had stepped out of the kitchen for about 2 minutes. However, I will remember only the good. He was our Neddy and when I got the news my first thought was, "Oh no, this is going to devastate our daughter".

Our daughter spent 10 days with my parents so I had a few days to figure out how to break it to her. I put a picture of her and Ned in a frame for her room and put a picture of Ned up on the refrigerator. When she got home she immediately saw the picture on the refrigerator and simply said, "did he die?". She is so perceptive. It was a rough evening but thankfully since my mom, niece, and nephew had brought her home and were staying for awhile she was kept very busy for the next couple of days. Losing your first pet is never easy. She worries now that Memphis will be sad. We adopted them both in 2004 when they were already both about 2 years old. He lived a good long happy dog life and will be truly missed.

Our summer is quickly coming to a close. Our daughter starts third grade in 12 days. We kept very busy this summer including a trip to my parents lake house for our annual 4th of July weekend extravaganza. The weather was great and although my dad's boat is still causing us all fits we enjoyed a lot of fishing and going out on the paddle boat.

The one thing I will love about school being back in session is my routine coming back. I have missed my routine. Having my exercise time, my job search time, my errand/housework time, and my photography time will be welcomed with open arms. Although I did not get the job from my last interview, I learned a lot from it and am now lightly considering going back to school. We shall see! Can't keep me down.

I have also been working on a project that is just about done and I will share it as soon as I add the finishing touch.