In memory of Simon

This weekend Daryl and I rode with my parents to visit my brother and sister-in-law at their new place in DC. Before leaving, we dropped Simon off at the kennel (which he thankfully loved visiting), and sadly pulled down the road with him watching us from the kennel yard - something he didn't usually do.

The following morning Kathy from the kennel wakened us via telephone. One of the girls had let Simon out in the morning after feeding him, and when she returned just a couple of minutes later, he was laying on the ground. When she got to him, he wasn't breathing.

We lost our dog on Sunday.

While I know how nice it will be able to get a new couch without fear of it being quickly destroyed, and how nice it will be not to have to bundle up every morning to take him out, or not have to wash the couch cushion covers every couple of days, I wouldn't have traded him for any of those things.

The joy Simon brought both of us (and especially Daryl) has been amazing! We've been reminiscing about how much we loved having him around. We loved being greeted by Simon when we came home. We even loved how he would steal our seat on the couch if we got up for just a moment and look pleading to Daryl for permission to stay there. Daryl loved when he'd look at us like he was smiling and how much fun he had playing outside or going mountain biking with him as a puppy. I loved how he would put his head next to mine on the bed at night time for his nightly rub, how much fun he had on walks with me, and how he would keep me company when Daryl wasn't home yet.

While these next couple days/weeks/months will be a huge adjustment to us, we recognize God's kindness to us in gifting us with Simon at all and in all the joy we were enabled to have through the gift of Simon. We also recognize that Simon was a tremendous companion for Daryl and how gracious of God it was to keep Simon around until we got married and right before we hope to have another pair of little feet pattering around downstairs to hopefully preoccupy many of our sad thoughts.

We won't ever be able to replace Simon - he was one of a kind and as the woman at the kennel said, "their favorite dog," (sorry if you take your dog there - haha), but maybe we'll get another one soon.

For those of you who don't have dogs or don't care for them, this may all sound ridiculous, but he was part of our daily lives - and a responsive part. We will really miss him. We'll miss him when we come home from work. We'll miss him sitting at our feet at dinner time. We'll miss him spinning around in circles at feeding time. We'll miss him in the morning when we wake up. We'll just miss him.

Thankfully God is a good all the time, and who knows, as Daryl reminded me, Joni Ericson Tada once wrote that while God doesn't owe us or any animal any good thing, wouldn't it be just like Him to have a few more surprises for us in our heavenly home?