Silence...

We wanted to thank all of our family and friends for their support during this hard time for us. Losing a pet is something almost everybody has experienced and it's nice to know that other people can truly understand and sympathize with us. We appreciated every kind word that we received.

Each day is a little better than the day before. The hardest thing for us is the silence. Forest was almost 100 pounds and never quiet. I miss his constant background noise, his collar jingling, his panting, how he could clean one paw for 10 minutes. It used to annoy me and I'd tell him, "Enough already, it's clean!" The house is horribly quiet when we come home and that's when the kids seem to notice that he's missing. Ben always takes cover when we come in the door as Forest used to plow him over. Then, he looks around and realizes the bulldozer isn't there anymore. We miss his bark when someone rings the doorbell. We're also learning to break out of old habits. I dropped macaroni last night and went to call him. I guess I can't be lazy anymore. David and I both tip toe around the bedroom at night so we don't step on him. David took his first walk without him yesterday morning and I'm sure his right hand didn't know what to do without Forest's leash in it. Our days and nights involved him and it's just going to take some time to do things differently.

Oddly enough, we sold our dining room table through Craigslist on Tuesday. The lady that came to buy it used to do large animal rescue and she also lost a dog to bloat. It was comforting to hear her story and be reassured that we didn't make a wrong decision in putting him to sleep. David and I both felt a little better after she left. Sometimes God puts people in your path at the right time for a reason. We feel so fortunate to have all of you in our lives and we thank you again for all of your support.