Epilogue
We miss our doggie terribly. Vincey's routine became our routine, and now we are having to learn new routines. We miss coming home to a happy tail. We miss hearing her bark at the UPS truck. We miss doorbells on TV causing Vincey to run to the front door. I miss her licking my legs when I got out of the shower. I miss letting her out to smell the front yard when we got the mail or newspaper. The house is so silent without her. At this moment all I hear is the clock on the living room wall. I miss just hearing her breathe peacefully while sleeping. We see her everywhere: on the couch; on top of my feet under my desk; looking out the front window; sitting in the sunshine in the backyard. I still go out in the backyard right before bed, just out of the habit of letting her out to go potty one more time. When Sarah and I were in different rooms, Vincey would find the exact midpoint in the house and lie there so she could keep tabs on both of us at the same time.
Vincey somehow positioned herself precisely below two flowers in the garden. (Summer 2013)
Sarah painted a picture of that photograph:
Which now hangs on the wall above her empty crate (though, to be fair, that crate was ALWAYS empty. It's not that she disliked it, she would gladly sit in there while we had repairpeople over, for instance, but why sit in a crate alone when a comfy couch with Mommy beckons?)
So why this webpage? Self-therapy. To remember all the good. To keep all the early years as top of mind as the final days are. We love our Vinceypants...
A postscript additional page has been added: Collage