Baby Emma

A couple weeks ago, Pete and I made one of the toughest decisions... we decided it was time to say goodbye to a member of our family.  'Baby Emma' as she was dubbed in our family was an amazing dog and I cannot tell you how hard it is to say good bye and have confidence you're doing the right thing for a furry member of your family.  I wish she could have told me when SHE was ready, but Pete and I felt in our hearts it was her time...

 The first animal I ever raised from a baby.  I totally fell for the 'doggie in the window' at a local pet store and HAD to have her.  I worked hard training her when I was in college and was an incredible room mate- ha.  What a beautiful blond baby she was....

Toward the end of this past winter, Emma started having trouble breathing and was sneezing like crazy.  Our vet thought maybe she just had bad allergies and after a few rounds of antibiotics and steroids things weren't clearing up and she developed a lump alongside her nose.  She became increasingly bothered by it, and after a couple vet visits they felt confident it was cancer.  Treatment was so costly and with a dog her age, they don't respond so well, so we opted to keep her comfortable and let her live out her days in peace with us.  She never stopped enjoying time with us, running after her tennis ball, or loving Harper (I swear Emma was the older sister Harper always wanted;)).  The last month she started moving slower, sleeping more, and unfortunately because of her constant runny nose- couldn't be inside with us as much, which you could tell made her sad...

 So, we spent a beautiful May morning with her... she ran around, rolled in the mud (oh dear;)), and got lots of pets and snuggles.  We decided to make a stone with her foot prints to add to our flower garden.. . a nice memory of our furry baby.  We said our tearful goodbyes and brave Daddy took Emma on her last 'ride' to the vet office.

She may be a dog, but she was a special member of our family.  I'll forever miss her, but find comfort in knowing she's in a better place- free of pain- running after endless tennis balls I'm sure.  As Harper says constantly, "I miss Emma, but she's with her best friend Shirley (our friend's angel doggie) in Heaven".  I love the purity of how children look at life and death- amazing.

Love you forever, Baby Emma.