Will Be Missed

We had to say goodbye to our puppy yesterday. He was far from a puppy - actually - we don't know exactly how old he was since when we adopted him 7 years ago, the rescue organization said he was anywhere between 7 and 10 years old. That puts him at the youngest around 14 years old.

He was such a good dog - the epitome of the lazy, droopy-eared basset that you picture when you think of the breed.

75% of the pictures I could find of him have him sleeping ... he could sleep anywhere.

One of the hardest things is how much I think Mason is going to miss him. He knew how to open the sliding glass door to let Newt in and out, he was always looking for him when we got home to say hi to, he would open the office door in the mornings to let Newt out.

Newt was Mason's caretaker from the very beginning, hanging out and sleeping in Mason's room before Mason was even born.

They were great friends and even though I had Mason say goodbye to Newton and give him a hug and a kiss, I know he is not going to understand where he went when he inevitably goes looking for him.

He did get into his share of trouble - like the many times he'd "open" up his Christmas presents when we were silly enough to leave them under the tree thinking his amazing nose wouldn't sniff them out.

There was also that little incident where his love for cupcakes caused him to start our kitchen on fire - yes, billowing black smoke and the fire department called and everything. Crazy dog.

He gave us many laughs and giggles, too, like when he'd try to run and chase with the other dogs but was always to fat and slow to keep up - so he'd just pass out with exhaustion and his little cheeks would poof up with air.

And one I know Marc's family will never forget is when all the dogs were running in a circle at my in-laws house, through the kitchen, dining room, living room, out the slider to the backyard, into the other slider back to the kitchen ... well Newt was trying to chase and keep up with the other dogs in the circle but in typical Newt style was running about 200 yards behind everyone - someone thought the dogs were done running and so they went and closed the screen - then came Newt barreling at 100 mph - oblivious to the screen door - so he just went tearing right through the screen without even stopping to think - leaving a huge, gaping Newton-sized hole in the screen behind him. We still laugh to the point of crying every time we hear remember that story.

We'll miss you so much, Newt. You were my best friend and always there to greet me with a wag no matter what kind of day I had. I'm just happy thinking that now you're able to run around again with Photon, who was your best friend and who's been waiting for you for 2 years now in doggy heaven.