say goodbye.

"she is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. you are her life, her love, her leader. she will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart. you owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion."  

- unknown

noel.

but we call her nono.

she belongs to my mom & dad.
they adopted her almost eight years ago. 

{not long after the death of our family dog, buddy}
she's been a faithful companion, travel buddy, and
a well-loved member of the family.

her health has taken a serious decline in the last year or so.

she has trouble walking.

she's nearly blind.

old dog issues run her life.

last week, we knew it was time...

time to say goodbye.

adam gave her a bath last night.

he said goodbye to her this morning.

she'll be gone - to a new life across the rainbow bridge - by the time
he gets home from work tonight.

my heart aches for my parents

who are returning home to say goodbye to their faithful friend.
my heart aches for my children

who have never dealt with death...until now.

nono was a good dog.

her fourteen years of life were filled with love & joy.
she touched many lives.

she will be missed.

*nono has been in our care since thanksgiving. we dogsit for my parents often, but this trip was longer than normal due to family obligations my father had to take care of in his home state. last week, nono had some health issues that scared me. she wasn't eating. cleaning up vomit, poo & blood on a daily basis was not fun. clearly, something was wrong. the vet suggested blood work, but given her age & her condition, he said that it would be best to choose quality of life over anything else. my parents, who had to make this decision while 18 hours away, agreed. nono's ashes will be scattered in the garden at my mom & dad's house. it is the same place my parents scattered buddy's ashes.