Memories

My aunt sent me a very kind quote after finding out about Maggie: the pain of loss is the proof of love. This past week has been full of both pain and love for me. I never realized how much space Maggie filled in the house and in my heart until her presence was missing. One healing activity has been to collect our favorite Maggie memories to remind me of the joys she brought our family.

Like how every single Christmas she's stick her head into the middle of the Christmas tree and stand still in some kind of pine-induced trance until we startled her back into reality. She'd emerge from the tree looking slightly drugged and guilty. We could never figure this one out!

Then there's the way she preferred to be fed her doggie kibble one piece at a time by one of the kids, as if they were her servants and she was the Greek emperor.

Of course she helped alleviate some high stress moments by "singing" when Madeleine's screaming hit a certain pitch...this was one of my most appreciated interventions of hers as the tension would be broken by girly giggles asking for Maggie to "do it again."

Or how she's sneak up beside you and rub her face all over your leg only to then prop her entire weight against said leg and expect you to support her. The accompanying accusatory look that she gave if you moved and caused her to slide to the ground would have incited an apology from the Pope for being so inconsiderate.

And then there's how she used to crawl up between Justin and me on lazy Saturday mornings (pre-Parker). She would snuggle in and breathe warm stinky doggie breath on us until we promised to feed her, at which point she'd begin nibbling on our chins to get us moving. Then after getting us up she'd linger on the bed to show us that she was the smarter mammal.

As time passes so does some of the pain. The memories and pictures will always be with us and her legacy will live on as every other dog we own will be measured against her. But if she were here I think she'd be wondering why I'm still crying. Our life is moving forward and for perspective, if the greatest personal tragedy I've experienced is losing Maggie then I've lived a very blessed life. She'd want us to keep loving living it. So I hope to share more glimpses of us doing just such a thing soon. Thank you very much for the support and kindness you all have offered to us. Your compassion and heartfelt wishes have been lifegiving during this time.