Gone but not forgotten. Tilley.

As I was discussing working on my next novel with my son Brad; I talked about going through the whole Tilley thing again.  He shuddered at the thought of reliving it just as I realized that it had been two years.  Two years today we lost our amazingly beautiful Tilley to a mass on her spleen.  The whole story will be told in my new novel; which will hopefully be out before too long.  I am not one to mark days of loss but I just relived it all on paper only a day ago.

Time does lessen the hurt; I always try to share this with people who have lost a canine companion.  It is true, reliving the event of losing Tilley has been much easier than it was reliving the loss of Jessie.  Two years have passed now; making it much easier to think about it all.  When I wrote my first book PBJ and me, it was all still very fresh and immensely sad.  Writing the section on the day we lost our little Jack Russell Jessie had been extremely painful.  I wrote and cried; with tears pouring down my face I told my story.  If you have read the book you, know that I held nothing back; I told it all like it happened.  It was very difficult.  But now two years after losing our wonderful Tilley, it is much easier.  I do not miss her any less two years later but it does hurt less.  There have most definitely been tears shed as I relive the story of losing her but to a lesser degree; all due to time passed.

Life goes on as they say; but memories stay with us forever.  There is never a day that goes by that I don't think of her.  She was one of the most amazing dogs that I have ever met, let alone lived with.   She taught me many life lessons that have helped me with other dogs.  Thankfully Elsa got to share several months with Tilley and learn what she could.   Just the other day as I was tossing the ball for Elsa, again; she lowered her head and pounced on the ball exactly like Tilley.  The moment took me back and I stood thinking about Tilley; before Elsa dropped the ball once again at my feet. 

I feel so lucky to have shared Tilley's life with her.  She was one of those dogs that everyone loves.  People always wanted their dog to play with her; and they wanted to get to know her.  She loved people; especially men and tolerated other dogs.  It wasn't that she didn't like them she just loved her own dogs, Luke and Jessie.  They were an amazing pack.  She was an unbelievably amazing dog who's memory lives strong in my heart.