Thursday, January 10, 2008

My Sweet Jackson

December 2006 Jackson started limping on his right leg. We assumed he had another torn ACL because two years earlier we had his left leg repaired and was told he would eventually need the other one done as well. So we called the surgeon and the week before New Years Marc and Audrey left with Jackson to do a consult surgery. Audrey was going to stay and observe so Marc was supposed to call me when he left so I would know when to pick her up. A couple hours went by and no call, so I called and was told he would be home soon and we would talk then. They got home and everyone was very upset. They got an extremely 140# groggy dog into the house and I was told he had bone cancer.
I can not believe how hard this is for me to write. I went back to my journal and calendar so I could find out the exact day we put him to sleep and for the month of January I wrote down nothing- not even the birth of Kate and her story! Wow I am glad no one is around to see me blubbering like a fool! Anyway Jackson lived with us for one more week- through the New Year and one cold morning my wonderful husband took him to the vet to be put to sleep. He was so excited to be going for another car ride and it tore me apart.
I was very upset and my poor sweet Dylan was so confused as to what was going on. To this day he brings up the topic of death and Jackson quite frequently. Just two days ago we found a Jackson hair and Dylan told me that he was up in heaven dropping them down to us. Anyway for those of you who did not know our Jackson he was a Bernese Mountain Golden Retriever mix, weighing in at 140# but believed he was a lap dog. He was very obedient and loved very much. Here are a few of my favorite photos of him.




2 comments:

Cole and Mindy Smith said...

Heather....we had a dog like that who was seriously part of the family, and I remember the day he was put to sleep or "taken to the farm" as my dad liked to call it! Not much fun, but they will be in heaven I hope!

Anne said...

That picture of Dylan and Jackson is amazing. Really nice.