Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ice Cream in Heaven

My in-laws had to put their dog to sleep this morning. She was a beautiful black cocker spaniel that they raised from a puppy. Her name was Maddy. When we would visit their house for dinner, my MIL would tease my daughter, Maddy, by calling her to dinner like she would call her dog, Maddy. Sometimes she would pet my Maddy on her head, too, and she would bark or whine. It got confusing sometimes when someone was talking to the dog and the kid would answer.

I remember one of the first dinners I had at their house. We were having ice cream and brownies for dinner, and my MIL put a small bowl on the floor next to the table. When I asked "did you just give the dog some dessert?" she replied, "yes, ice cream is her favorite." Of course it is, how silly of me.

It's a hard decision to put down a pet. You're losing a member of your family. Their house won't be the same without hearing the click of her nails across their wood floors, or setting down a bowl of ice cream for her after dinner.

Today when I heard she was gone, I looked at my picture of my girls. Kelli loved her ice cream, too. I asked her to find Maddy and play with her, and share her ice cream with her. When I told my MIL and SIL I had asked Kelli to take care of her, they said they felt better, knowing someone in Heaven would love her and feed her until they could see her again.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Although nothing compares to the loss of a child (children) I am sure your words were comforting to your in laws. How gracious of you. I bet Kelli was happy to see little Maddy and will gladly share her ice cream.:-) Loss is so hard...we've suffered many in our family. My heart goes out to you and your in laws. God Bless you all.

Jill of All Trades said...

That is one of the hardest decisions and I've done it a few times. Our pets become such a part of our lives.

Anonymous said...

I'll have to start giving my dog ice cream. Because right now, he'd probably only wish for rabbit heads in heaven.

Also, your double rainbow header reminded me of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI