Pets Are Family, Too, and Sorely Missed When They’re Gone
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Yesterday was one of those days that will go down in history for our family. A ferocious electrical storm blazed through here this morning leaving behind over 3 1/2 inches of rain, flooded roads and properties, and power outages. We lost our sweet black Lab, Penny, to a lightening strike. The strike evidently traveled uphill from a tree that was struck just yards away at the bottom of a slope outside our front door. It struck the corner of her doghouse where she had sought refuge from the storm. I was sick when I found her after the storm had moved on. It was heartbreaking.
My 5 year old granddaughter was heart broken when we broke the news to her. She loved Penny dearly, and spent a lot of time with her when she visited us. She’s concerned about our yellow Lab, Pedro, just as we are, because he has lost his best friend who was actually his half sister. He’s feeling lost without her. They were born just a day apart and have been together since birth.
Penny was always so loving and patient with my granddaughter. She would do anything Bella asked her to do practically. She ate up the attention, love, and affection Bella gave her. She was always careful not to hurt her. At times she was purposefully slow and methodical with her actions so as not to harm her by accident when they would run and romp together. Thank God I have lots of pictures of the two of them playing together.
It took a while to console Bella last night. She was upset when we first broke the news to her earlier in the day, but she had calmed down and settled back into playing eventually. Then as the evening wore on and she began to wind down for the day, her thoughts turned back to Penny. Her Mom (my daughter) called and asked me to please try to console her on the phone because she hadn’t been able to calm her down. At first she didn’t want to get on the phone with me. She was still crying too hard and could hardly talk.
After her Mom and I had talked a little longer, she was finally willing to talk on the phone. We talked about Penny being in doggy heaven now looking down on her and watching over her. Bella lost her paternal grandfather a little over a year ago, too. She began talking about Penny and her grandfather being together in heaven now. That seemed to help her begin to accept the loss of another family member dear to her. Although she understands they wouldn’t be alone without the other in heaven, she knows it’s even better that they now have each other and can share the joy of heaven together.
Penny will always have a special place in our hearts just like our other family members. I have family pictures all over the house that include pets we’ve had over the years as well as pets our adult children have and have had. It’s time to choose a special picture of Penny and give her her rightful place among the others pictures. I’m sure Bella will appreciate being able to see her picture when she comes to visit next time.
We love and miss you, Penny.
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oh your poor little granddaughter! my condolences to you and your family…
i lost my babygirlkitty last week for 12 hours…little turd was hiding in a drawer…i thought she had gotten outside somehow and was gone…it was a devastating feeling!
you’re in my thoughts…
Comment by lisaq — July 10, 2007 @ 8:55 am
Lisa, thank you for your thoughtful and kind condolences.
Isn’t that such a helpless feeling when you can’t locate them? Penny & Pedro enjoyed visiting their friends and swimming in one neighbors pond together. Sometimes they would be gone way too long and we would worry, worry, worry just as though one of our kids was late coming home.
Comment by angela — July 10, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Great post today mom. I wish Bella were able to read it, maybe it would make her feel better. I am too scared to show her the pictures you have of her and the dogs on Yuwie. I will wait a bit before I do that. My heart still hurts for her so bad. It was a rough night.
Love you
Stacy
Comment by Stacy — July 10, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Thanks, Stace. Bless her heart. She has a big heart for animals for sure. Give her love and hugs for me.
Hopefully all will go well and we’ll see you two this weekend.
Comment by angela — July 10, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Angela…I can’t tell you how sorry I am to hear about Penny. It’s painful when you lose a pet that you & your family are so close to. Time will heal but I know it still hurts a lot now. My thoughts and prayers go out to your little grandaughter as well.
I’m well aware of the storms that rolled through. We’re just fortunate that we got through it without any major damage.
Take care,
Chris
Comment by Chris — July 10, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Thank you, Chris, for your condolences. I hate that we lost her that way.
Yes, we were fortunate to get through those storms yesterday without major damage. It could’ve been much worse.
Comment by angela — July 10, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
Ohh, Angela. I know how you must feel. Losing a beloved pet is devastating. I’m so sorry - I remember when you sent me that pic of your doggies for the WCAD blog!
RIP Penny.
Comment by Dina — July 10, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
Thank you, Dina. There’s an empty place here now. Looked out the kitchen window this morning when I first got up and broke into tears because she’s not out there with Pedro anymore.
She was a sweety…playful and loving all the time.
Comment by angela — July 10, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
Hey Angela, sorry about Penny..how’s Paul
I gave your website to Debe at my work she may need some Mary Kay..see yall soon have a safe trip to this weekend..come back in the same truck…..
Comment by Jeff — July 11, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Hey Jeff,
Thank you for your condolences. Paul is ok. Thanks for asking.
Thank you, too, for referring Debe to me. I appreciate it and will remember that if Hope decides to become my customer, too.
We plan to be safe. Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we will come home in the same truck this time.
Comment by angela — July 11, 2007 @ 4:48 pm
Angela, you said that a major storm was hitting you, didn’t realize it was so bad, or that you lost a precious dog. So sorry to hear.
Comment by Heidi — July 13, 2007 @ 8:02 am
Oh, yea, I was responding to your message when that storm hit! It was the worst electrical storm I\’ve seen in a long time. Thank you for the condolences.
I ran through the house trying to unplug all the major electronics and appliances but didn\’t get it done fast enough. My cable connection into my wireless router was fried with one strike, and the color on both of our TV\’s was really strange when I was finally able to turn them back on. At least they still worked and we were able to adjust the color.
Comment by angela — July 13, 2007 @ 8:29 am
This is so sad, we had a goat one time that we tied to trees with a long chain to graze, one day a sudden storm hit and lightning struck the tree he was tied to and killed him.
It took a while to get over this
I was just a young kid but this brought back all those memories..
Dennis
Comment by Pet Business — November 15, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
I’m so sorry, Dennis. I don’t think it matters much what kind of animal it is…when you see and care for them daily, they become your babies, don’t they?
One of our grandsons accidently overfed our Bubba…a Beta fish. Needless to day, Bubba couldn’t handle it. My grandson was so upset over that.
Comment by angela — November 15, 2007 @ 7:29 pm
I must admit I welled up when I read your post. I too lost my dog, Harvey, a year ago. We were on our usual walk when he went chasing after rabbits and vanished. He’d got stuck down a hole and never recovered when we found him two days later. My thoughts are with you and your granddaughter.
Comment by Colin Bark — July 22, 2008 @ 2:24 pm