Today has quite honestly been I think the saddest day I can ever remember. That may seem strange to you, but if you know us well, you know that we have loved our sweet black lab Tripp like a child. If you are not an animal lover or have never had a dog that you adored, you may need to skip this post. I know there are so many who have lost a child or a spouse and this seems trivial in comparison, but right now we feel as though our hearts are breaking. I debated whether or not to write about this, but decided that if we are going to be transparent on this blog, it was necessary to share the bad with the good.
This morning after Phil went to work, I was trying to get some exercise outside and Tripp was playing with me. A few minutes passed and I couldn't find Tripp and then had a horrible feeling that he could have gone to the road. Sadly, I was right. I ran to the end of our drive and got there just after he had been hit by a car on the highway. I flagged down help to go get Phil's parents and once they came we headed to the vet in the next town over. While he didn't look too banged up, he had major internal injuries and after a few minutes at the vet, he confirmed that our precious puppy wasn't going to make it. Holding him while the vet put him down was so incredibly hard, but I was so glad I was able to be with him. I won't go into the details, but I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it was.
We have only had Tripp for 4 months, but it seems like he has always been a part of our family. This may be because he has spent all day every day with me since we got him. I was fortunate in my job in Auburn to be able to bring him to work with me since he was a little puppy and we were house training him. He was so good. No one could believe that he just slept at my feet all day and never bothered anything even though he was so young. Then since we have been in Aliceville, he has been my constant companion. He truly was the perfect dog. He loved to cuddle, loved people and really never got into trouble. He slept in our bedroom on his little bed next to ours and slept through the night never waking us. Since I've been pregnant, he would get up with me in the middle of the night and sit with me when I felt sick. When I would have my quiet times in the morning I usually sat on the bench at our kitchen table. He would jump up on the bench with me and get right up next to me and lay down with his head in my lap. When Phil got home in the evenings he got so excited! He would wait at the window for him to come home and when he saw him coming down the driveway I would open the door and he would run for his truck and run beside him until he stopped. Phil said it was the best welcome home! We did spoil him. He was pampered and really didn't realize he wasn't a human. After every meal, we saved the last few bites for him and he licked our plates clean. He always wanted to sit at our feet...actually ON our feet. He liked to be close.
I truly never thought it was possible to love an animal as much as we loved Tripp. I won't keep going on and on as this much has been hard enough to get through, but he was such a big part of our lives and the loss of him has definitely left a void. We love you so much, Tripp.
