The End of an Era

I really thought Todd would write this post, but then realized it never would have happened, so now it falls on me. And I feel like it needs to be written.

Yesterday was the day. The day that Todd has been talking about and joking about for months. The day I never thought was going to happen because I didn't think he'd be able to handle it.

About 11 years ago Todd found a good and loyal friend. He paid $65 for this friend, but still, he found a good friend. He brought Michael home from the pound and Michael was such a good dog. When Todd and I started dating Michael and I would play and we would take him to the dog park and he would stay loyally by our side.

We think Michael had abandonment issues because he was always afraid we were going to leave him whenever we took him to get groomed or to the dog park. He would shake uncontrollably and get so scared and whine. It was hard to leave him anywhere. When we left for vacations he wouldn't eat unless someone stayed at the house long enough for him to eat a few bites. He just was beside himself if Todd wasn't around.

Then the kids came into the picture and Michael tolerated them. He never barked. (I think in the six years I was around, I heard him bark twice. Twice!) He didn't want to be bothered by kids anywhere. If we were walking down the street, he'd cross the street just to avoid kids. It was actually pretty funny. With our two, he tolerated them. If they were too loud, he'd get up and walk into a different room. If they were bugging him more than he wanted to be, he'd go outside. Michael shared a room with Isaac and never seemed to mind, unless Isaac woke up in the middle of the night crying. Then Michael would go sleep in the front room.

For the last year or so, Michael has been getting old. Really old. He's blind in one eye, going deaf if not already completely deaf and he's not interested in leaving the house. It scares him to go down to the park.

Last week I woke up in a panic at about 1am because I heard a noise in our room. It was Michael. He never comes in our room and he was just completely disoriented. He tried to leave our room and ended up in our bathroom. Todd helped him back to the hallway and as they were trying to get back to his bed, Michael fell down the stairs. His hips were starting to go and add that to the blind and deaf issues, it was time to think about letting Michael go.

Todd had been hinting at this for quite some time, but I didn't think he'd really go through with it. Yesterday Todd took the morning off and took Michael to the Humane Society. He didn't want to take him to get put down, and was pretty sure that if we took him back to the pound, that's what would happen. We're hoping that the Humane Society will be able to find a home for him for his finally few months or years of life. A nice elderly couple who just wants a friend to sit by and be there. That's our hope.

It's not the same at our house without him. It was odd to sit at dinner last night without Michael hanging out by Isaac's chair in hopes of some fallen food. It was hard to tell Isaac where Michael was when he asked for him first thing this morning. And it's going to be an adjustment to have to sweep up food after each meal now because Michael's not there to be our vacuum.

We loved Michael but know it was time to let him go. It truly is the end of an era.