Two years with Buster, One year without Opal

May 23rd is the anniversary of one of the happiest and one of the saddest days of my life.  Two years ago today Buster joined our family.  Last year, we said goodbye to our sweet girl Opal.   So today we will celebrate the lives of both these babies.


We'll start with Opal.  I cannot believe she's been gone a year.  She was the last of the original three to pass away.  Wookie went first, then Gus, then Opal. Within 17 months, we had to say goodbye to the best friends we have ever had.  Those pets saw both Trevor and I through the loneliest times of our lives.  There were many times when they were all we had, all that mattered.  Then we met and joined families and together, we all mattered.  Our goodbyes were terribly painful.

         

In some ways I don't feel like these three are even gone.  They are still part of our family.  We still talk about them often. Their pictures hang on the wall and are on the window sill in the kitchen. I look at them everyday and miss them.  We have the new generation now, but we still long for the original three.  Our lives are different because we loved them. Our current pets and all future pets will have better lives because we loved those three.  I'd give anything for one more day with each of them and I hope every night that they will come to me in my dreams.

Then there is Buster.  Oh how I love this dog.  Two years ago, we had said goodbye to Wookie and our hearts were broken.  Maggie had come to live with us and was more than Opal could handle. Maggie was a puppy, Opal was 13 years old and going downhill.  Maggie wanted to play and Opal tried to keep up but couldn't. We thought we should get a younger dog for Maggie to play with and to bring some positive energy into our home.

Trevor had been searching at a local rescue called Family Dogs New Life  There were several dogs that he was interested in.  After a couple weeks, we had narrowed it down to a few that we really like. Trevor wanted a dog named Max and I had my heart set on Buster.  On Sunday, we had a long bike ride planned and it was raining.  Trevor said "what are we going to do" and I said "go get a dog".  I knew that we would come home with Buster, even though that wasn't Trevor's first choice.

Buster had this look on his face that hit me right in the heart. Plus, his white belly had black spots on it, just like Maggie and I thought they belonged together.   We went down to the shelter and were asking about Max.  They said that Max wasn't good with cats.  "We can't get Max, let's meet Buster", I said. I knew that whatever dog we met first was the one we would take home with us, so I had to be sure it was Buster.

They brought this little dog in to meet us.  I loved him right away.  Maggie came in to meet him and did not care either way.  We took him on a walk and came back to the shelter.  We were sitting in the waiting room and I finally said to Trevor "why are we sitting here?  Let's finish the paperwork and take him home".  There was no doubt.

As we drove home, Maggie slept on the floor in the backseat and Buster layed in the kennel.  You can see how scared he was. Buster had been in three homes and taken to different shelters each time.  His heart was broken and you can see that on his sweet face in this picture.  He and Maggie became the best of friends and still are to this day.

      

     

As I've said before, Buster is the best dog I've ever known.  He is my best friend and I can't get enough of him.  He is so happy with us.  All he wants to do is make us happy.  I love the difference in his face from one picture to the next.  He knows he belongs with us and he knows that he'll be with us forever.  When he looks at me with those dark eyes, I know he knows.  We'll never let him go.