Sad memories surface

I remember the day quite vividly. I knew that it was coming, but I still wasn't very prepared for it at all. I remember how we brought her inside because she was getting older and couldn't get around well anymore... we figured she had a stroke and with the hot, humid south Texas weather she may do better indoors.

I remember rushing to check on her in the morning... the night before she had become more unresponsive to all of us and wasn't really drinking or eating anything. Things weren't any better by morning; in fact they were much worse and were completely hopeless and we knew we only had one option at this point.

My dog Midnight was born the same year as me... I grew up with her. She was more than just my dog, she was a member of our family. The summer that I was getting ready to turn 16, was the summer that we had to put her to sleep. The morning that it became evident that we had to take her to the vet and say goodbye was a HORRIBLE morning. The drive to the animal hospital was the most excruciating emotional pain I had felt since the death of my Grandpa. I remember how difficult it was to carry her out to the bed of the truck, as it's difficult to carry dead weight. I remember riding in the back of the truck with her, holding her, petting her, and crying my eyes out. And I remember how touched I was that my Dad took time to make her a wooden coffin, complete with metal handles, for us to bury her out on my aunt and uncle's property in Cibolo.

All of this came rushing back to me today as I took Max for what I thought would be a completely routine visit to the vet. But not 2 minutes after my arrival I heard the horrid sobs of 2 young children from in the back... and then witnessed the vet and his tech carrying a golden lab on a gurney out to a car. These poor, sweet children, then came out to exit the hospital, and stopped to pet Max. The little boy looked up at me with tears streaming down his face and more readily welling up in his eyes and choked out the words, "We just had to let our dog go to sleep for good." I told him that I knew how he felt because I had once had to let my dog go after she had lived a long, happy life. And then I added that someday their family will find another dog that needs their love when they're ready to have a new family member.

After all of this, Max was traumatized during his examination to the point of pooping on the vet table. It was a traumatic day for both of us.