Missing Our Sweet Sadie on Her 9th Birthday

Happy Birthday to our sweet Sadie girl. She would have been 9 today. In Berner years that's still quite a feat. I can't get over how many times I've read recently that another Berner has passed away at such a young age that I feel quite lucky that despite all of Sadie's problems that she lived to be almost 9 years old. We were lucky. Lucky to have had her that long. Lucky that we could afford to give her the best life despite her ailments. Lucky that she was just shy of the average maximum life expectancy of the Bernese Mountain Dog. 

She's home with us now. Resting next to her sister, Adler, and amongst her family. We carefully selected an urn from the same company where we bought Adler's. Sadie's urn is a bit bigger given her size but just as beautiful. She actually came home in a different urn but it was non-descript and looked like an urn and I wanted to give her something as beautiful as Adler's. And we did. We adorned it with her name and like Adler's a meaningful quote: 

"When the day comes when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever." 

I will, Sadie. I will. Forever. 

As for me, I'm doing okay. Going and getting all of her things from the boarding facility and then the vet and then the vet again (they forgot to give me her harness she was wearing at the end) was hard. I didn't want to go into those places. Didn't want to see her things and face the reality that she was gone. I cleaned out her closet and donated everything that I could including hundreds of dollars worth of medications. I kept a few things if we ever decide to get another dog but I don't think so. I said that I would give it a year and see how I feel but I'm at peace. We gave so much for so long to both Adler and Sadie. Twenty years of caring for them combined. I'm good. The bookends to our family will always be Adler and Sadie. 

Her quote

Adler and Sadie - Our Bookends