Goodbye to an old friend

I've known this was coming for a long time now. My dog, Gidget, who I've had since I was about 19, was just getting so old. She was about 14 years old, and it was becoming more difficult for her to walk. She couldn't "play" anymore, and had lost her hearing.

Her quality of life wasn't good anymore, and I didn't want to keep her around just because she wasn't deathly ill. I felt like she had lived a good life, and I decided to have her put to sleep on Saturday, November 13. It was such a tough decision, especially since she didn't have some life-threatening illness. I went back & forth on the decision for months and months.

But since winter was coming, I decided now would be as good a time as any. It was so hard to say goodbye and feel the guilt, but I feel peace about it now. The vet brought her back to me wrapped in a blanket after they put her to sleep, and we brought her home and buried her in our back yard.

She was a wonderful pet. Like I said, I've had her since she was a puppy. I had her for a couple of years before I met my husband! She was accepting to all 3 of my babies when I brought them home from the hospital, and she never hurt them. She would sleep under their cribs/beds all the time.

She had 3 litters of puppies. One litter of 8 (or 9, I can't remember), one litter of 4, and one litter of 5.

She lived a good life.

This shot was taken in April of 2009.

And our "funeral services" in the back yard.