A Sad Good-Bye

At the end of summer, my mom's dog, Max, got sick and passed away. Katie has, unfortunately, had to experience the loss of too many pets over the past couple of years. Between our dog, Chloe, my mom's two dogs, Garyldine's dog, and Aunt Jody's dog, we had a lot of elderly dogs that we had to say good-bye to during that time.

With the loss of each dog, Katie has gained a deeper understanding of what death means. When she asked me how Max was, and I had to explain he was gone, the tears came silently down her face and she was very sad knowing that gone meant forever.

To deal with her grief, she went straight for her paper and pencil box and drew a picture for Max. She wanted to put it in a field, so the wind would take it straight to him. It made her feel better to know that Max would know how much she loved him!

When Max would visit, I'd teach him about princesses!

When I found out he died, I sent him this picture full of hearts and hugs and kisses, so he'd know how much I loved him.

It's hard to say good-bye to pets.

I loved you, Max!