February
2015
One Year4
I can’t actually believe I am writing this post. It is hard to believe Bailey has been gone for a year.
Our angel, Bailey. My daughter drew on his wings and halo.
Tears have never stopped in this household. There is a void that will never be filled. Jingle, our new dog, actually makes the void bigger. I call either Bailey or Prancer’s name out to her at any given moment and am reminded of either of them. She is so different from them and in fact is almost the exact opposite. Life with her has been difficult as you know if you have been following my prior posts. She came with her own set of problems and is has continued to chew everything in the house, not listen at all and try to bite your ankles. She does remind me of the days when I first brought Bailey home. He also chewed on the carpet, ate the cushions of my couch and would chew on all the couch pillows. He would attack the mailman at any given time (this never stopped – he actually bit one mailman – it was the mailman’s fault for sticking his hand out to him – and was pepper sprayed by another). He would constantly run away thinking he was playing tag with me. As he’d be running down the street he would turn and wait for me as saying “Come and get me”. He was such an excitable dog I would have to greet him outside the house because he tinkled on me whenever I came home. I thought it was a great idea to teach him to jump into my arms when I came home only to have to change daily for a while. One time a Rottweiler in the neighborhood got out while my aunt was taking Bailey for a walk and Bailey turned ran to her, jumped in her arms and peed all over her. Fortunately the Rottweiler was well trained and when the owner yelled it froze.
For about a year my grandmother lived with me and when I would leave for work in the morning I would peek in on her and she would lift her covers and Bailey would run in to finish sleeping with her. From the first night I brought Bailey home until the day he was gone he slept right next to me on the bed with my hand on his chest to make sure he was breathing. The first night I took my hand off was the first night my daughter came home from the hospital and my hand went to her chest. I eventually went back to Bailey especially as he aged. The first night my daughter was home and work up crying, Bailey was right there with her whining until she stopped. Once she went into her own room Bailey would check on her nightly before coming to bed with me. When he no longer had the energy I would carry him in there.
My daughter asked me last week when was B-day (Bailey’s day). I told her with a sad face it was February 26, 2015, next Thursday. She asked me why I was sad and I told her I missed him and it reminded me that he has been gone for so long. Oh the wise words of children. She responded “Don’t think of it that way, think a year ago he got to heaven and he is now there with everybody and with your Grandma, it was a happy time for him”.
Thank you so much for posting today.
And these pictures are delightful! I love the one of Bailey and Prancer in their Santa hats. Bailey really is a beautiful pup…I love those brown soulful eyes. One look at your neart melts.
As I was reading about all his antics and getting to known him even better, I found myself smiling and even chuckling out loud! I loved how he checked on your daughter and you carried him when he couldn’t walk on his own to check on her. And the visual of her climbing under the covers with your Grandma when you left…such a sacred memory.
And then I read your last paragraph and the wisdom of your daughter and the tears flowed….such a special soul she is. Yes, they ARE all together feeling great…and watching over you!!!
C@early Bailey sent you Jingle to keep you distracted! What a character!!
Thank you so much for allowing us the privilege to continue to share this journey with you and to keep Bailey alive in our hearts. Such an incredibly inspiring pup!
Love to all always…
Sally and My Eternal Light Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!
Ohhhhh wow, I know how difficult that anniversary is and I’m really sorry. My heart goes out to you both, it’s a hard milestone without a doubt.
Your daughter is right, kids have the best ways of making sense of things. We as grown-ups just over complicate the matter with our emotional baggage. Kids and dogs, the best philosophers in the world.
I just want to say that when it comes to Jingle, never doubt that there is a reason Destructo Dog came into your life. The same thing happened to us when Wyatt Ray came into ours. He is SO different from Jer and for a long time we just couldn’t figure out why the Universe sent us the Exorcist after having such a good, calm, loving dog for so many years.
Now that Wyatt is 6, he’s mellowed out and boy we sure have learned so much. He came with lots of baggage but inside those suitcases were lots of lessons that we as pet parents needed to learn. We learned how to be calm, how to not judge other people when they have “bad dogs,” how to love despite what we perceived as faults. Now, we have a bond that is strong and complete. It’s not the same as it was with Jerry but it’s just as quality.
I know Jingle has lots of lessons that will make you better people too. Hang in there! And if you ever want to talk, you can PM me, I can relate to a dog like that.
P.S., thank you so much for your generous supporter status! You are so sweet!
Thank you as always for your positive and supportive words. I hope one day we get to actually meet your great team. I hope it doesn’t take 6 years for Jingle to mellow. :). We were at our last obedience class last night and someone was there demonstrating Noseworks, ironic that you just told me about it. We had to leave quickly though as Jingle was barking up a storm and as usual we had no control over her. It has become clear she does not like or wanted to get near the German Shepherds. There were two there last night and every time they were nearby she freaked and needless to say anywhere I moved we were in between them. (And I have a soft spot for them too, I think they are so loving, loyal and sweet). Patience is a virtue, it is just not mine but maybe she is here to teach me it. I just hope we both learn quickly together.
Aww you are so sweet. Our team is just Wyatt, myself and Jim and we would love to meet you too. But we’ll have to get Jingle over her fear of GSDs. Wyatt of course does nothing to enhance the reputation of the breed, he is not the friendliest dog!
I have to admit that we were not the most patient people either. We were blessed to have Jerry as our first dog and he was just perfect, aka “Saint Jerry.” Loved everyone, loved us, did nothing wrong, ever. Silly us, we thought that all dogs could be like that with the right training and attention. How dumb we were!
We used to make unfair conclusions whenever we would see a barky or anxious dog like our Wyatt, we assumed it was the human’s fault the dog was like taht. And while sometimes that is true, it’s not always the case as you know. Wyatt came into our lives to teach us how to stop being judgmental, how to look at the bigger picture and how to be patient. We were slow to catch on to that but eventually we got it.
Dogs always have so much to teach us. I hope it doesn’t take Jingle six years as well but I promise you that she has much to teach you in the meantime. Hang in there and know that you aren’t alone.