The Pain Now is Part of the Happiness Then

A friend found this cute stuffed Dane in her little boy's toy box. She said he had never played with it and offered it to us.  I came home to find it sitting on a chair on our front porch. It touched my heart so much. When hubby came home, I set it up like this and showed him, and he instantly teared up. What a nice memory of our baby girl. 

For healing, we have taken advantage of our new freedom and have enjoyed long day trips and short weekend trips to enjoy each other without having to worry about an elderly dog. We have even offered up our services to house/dog sit as long as we are "pet-less", which is another adventure on its own. This weekend we were given free tickets to the San Diego Zoo. We couldnt go until later in the day, and my comment was.. "As long as we get to see the BIG CATS, I will be happy". Well, that prayer was answered. While waiting for the last bus to the front of the park, we visited the Lion and lioness. They were both awake, prowling and roaring. What a grand vision. The female even came up to the window and stood on her hind legs and pawed the window. My heart raced. After spending a week of dog-sitting a little doxy, I had the mad craving to pet, thump and hug on a very large animal. I guess a Lion would not be a good choice, but you big dog owners know exactly what I am talking about. 

We are always asked... are you going to get another one? And the answer is YES! After taking our time to mourn and become clear headed again, we both feel in our hearts that we need a little bit of time for ourselves again. Then we will be ready for the plunge again. Our logical thinking leads us to starting over in December, the same time we started with Sasha. It will be a dog filled Christmas (and maybe kitty too) and a new joy to start the new year. And yes, we are hoping for another Dane, or maybe even.... take a deep breath... an Irish Wolf Hound. We just know we need another Giant Dog in our hearts and home, even with all the risks involved, we are ready for ride again.

Recently we watched the movie Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis story. There was a line in it that touched both of us. The lead who is dying, says to her husband, "The pain then is part of the happiness now." After she dies, he says, "The pain now, is part of the happiness then." That is exactly how we feel about loving and losing our girl and taking the risk all over again.

Remembering Sasha...Enjoy her story through this video