Saying Goodbye to Our Dog, Wes

Every day for the last week I have thought about writing this post. But each day I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Death is hard. Last week, we said our final goodbye to our sweet family dog, our rescue Westie, named Wes.

The funny thing about love is that it can hit you when you least expect it to. One day, many moons ago (11+ years ago to be exact), my husband (then boyfriend) and I decided to stop in at the local vet clinic to see if they had dogs for adoption. We had no intention of getting a pet yet. But, they had one pet. One sweet Westie dog that they said and I quote, "had already been there too long that he needed to be adopted or alternatives may be arranged." They convinced us to do a trial run where I had no idea that they had no intention of ever actually taking back. But, we were hooked. Really, right there and then our story was already panning out with Wes.

This wasn't just any dog. It was our forever dog.

I get this post isn't going to interest everyone. I have made it no secret that this blog is for my children. But, they most likely won't remember Wes. He lived most of his life before them. The kids are young but Wes knew us the best before we had children. And then he was blessed to welcome in our babies. He loved our children wholeheartedly. We were all family.

 But this post, this post right here, is really for my husband and for myself. We will always remember Wes and the love we had for him.

I have spent so much of my adult life with this sweet puppy at my side that I don't even know how to continue on this journey without him. Yet, I must. I still hear him come through our back door, hear him crawling out from under my bed, and feel him beside me as I walk. So many walks we took together.

There was a period of time when Monte and I were dealing with infertility and during those times I would cuddle with Wes. His love for us was alway constant. He got me through that extremely rough period of time. When we became pregnant with our daughter, I swore he knew it first. He continued to support our family and loved our children hard.

Wes loved adventure when he was younger and as he aged he preferred his routine more. Always a "grumpy old man" at heart, he liked control, to take the lead, and have everything done his way. We loved him for that. He thought he was the fastest dog and loved chasing toys and animals and running with me. He looked fast but he was not so fast at all. Wes also loved to swim and would start to paddle as soon as you put him near water. The best cuddler, pull out a blanket and he would lay with you all day. Ultimately, Wes just wanted to be where his humans were.

Through my tears, I went and rounded up photos I could find of him. These are in no particular order but they encompass so much of who he was to our family:

Not just a dog but a family member to our household. 

Wes started his life with us at that vet clinic over 11 years ago when he was just a baby. We said our goodbye to him in that very same vet clinic. It just wasn't enough time with him. I wanted Wes to have stayed with us for the rest of our lives. But, his life came full circle, right there in that vet clinic. And, I am hopeful he connected those dots as we did.

As the saying goes, "if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever." We loved him so much. In the last few weeks of his life his health was poor. It was so hard to watch him go so quickly. We went to the vet and worked with them on a plan to save him but, in the end, he was ready. I'm not sure we would have ever been.

Goodbye my sweet Wes. May you feel no pain now. Until we meet again in Heaven, watch over us.