Woodrow

Woodrow has axial osteosarcoma in his maxilla

he has bone cancer in his upper jaw
and it is very aggressive

we are devastated

and i don't really want to talk about it, because that makes it real.

the odds are that he probably won't be here at Christmas
and i can't seem to swallow that truth

to think about what he, a dog, means to me and to our family...

GT bought Woodrow for me for Valentines 2010, we were engaged to be married in July.

One February evening, when we were both living in Little Rock, we went to look at puppies.

It had just snowed and it was freezing outside with snow still on the ground.

as we drove to his friends house, who had the puppies, GT told me that we were not leaving with a puppy and that we were just going to look at them, i agreed.

i knew that GT would have to train the dog and live with him since i was living with a friend until we got married.

As we drove up to his friends house, I saw the litter of puppies running around outside, the mamma dog not far away in the garage. 

We parked the truck and made our way to the house.

As we approached, i squatted down to get a closer look at the cutest lab puppies i had ever seen.

One little one strayed away from the litter and walked over to me, placed his paws on my arms and stood up on his back legs, stretching his neck so his nose was close to mine. 

i looked up at GT and said, "pay the man".

 we loaded up and Woodrow was ours.

we bought him with the intentions of GT training him to hunt.

he did. and Woodrow was good, caught on incredibly quickly and loved to follow commands.

but, i somehow softened up the ole boy and he has made one trip, i think, to the duck blind.

he's my boy.

so, here's what we're going to do.
i am not going to lament his passing, because it has not happened.
i am not going to grieve his absence from my children's lives as they grow.
but, i am going to love the mess out of that dog and ensure that he has the best life possible.
he will have free reign of the land, the pond...oh wait! he already does!

my point is this.
we are going to make sure that he is comfortable and well loved.
and we always have, so not much will change.
he might even get a bath.

i know people feel differently about dogs, giving them varying degrees of worth.
Woodrow has been part of our family and is incredibly valuable to us on numerous levels.
he is easy going- energetic and playful or lazy and restful- depending on what we're doing.
He is kind, patient, fiercely loyal, impressively obedient and has no awareness of his huge size when trying to climb in my lap.
he's a lover.

he is the best.

if you care to read about him more, click here