The Joy Found On The Other Side of Pain

In October of 2018, I said goodbye to my beloved chocolate lab and best friend for 12 years, Roy. My husband and I adopted him from the Humane Society and he was the first dog I adopted as an adult. It was my responsibility to see him through all of his days He was a sweet, gentle old soul that quickly became a part of our family. We enjoyed every single day with him, rubbing his belly, going on daily walks, and watching him fetch the morning paper for us. When we saw his health start to decline I knew there would be a day that we had to say goodbye and I couldn’t imagine life without him.

We had a vet come to the house to help us say goodbye. It was the most peaceful and beautiful way to say goodbye to our beloved Roy. The goodbye wasn’t as hard as the aftermath. After we walked his old body out to the vet’s car I came back into the house and threw myself onto his dog bed, hugging it to my body and sobbed. I wanted to cling to every piece of him. I felt like if I got rid of his bed, his leash, his food bowls, I would be erasing him from our lives. For months I kept a sticker on his dog food container that said “Roy.”  The first two weeks after his passing I would wake up in the morning and cry thinking about facing another day without him.  He left a hole in my heart and in our home.  I felt like we had gotten a perfect dog and we wouldn’t find another dog as perfect as Roy.  After a month without Roy, I was ready to consider getting another dog but I wasn’t sure if I could love another dog as much as I did Roy. I decided to sign up to foster for a chance to have another four-legged body in the house and help someone find their new best friend. I found a local labrador rescue and signed up to be a foster.

Along came Hank. I volunteered to take in a dog coming to Colorado from Houston. I fell in love with his picture and he was coming to Colorado on my birthday so I felt it could be a sign that he could be “the one.” After a week in our home, I could feel my love growing for him. His personality was different from Roy’s but he was just as sweet and loyal as Roy. Roy was a gentle old soul that liked to quietly sit next to you and Hank is a big kid that loves to cuddle. Within a few days of having him at our house, I decided to adopt him.

.Hank has brought us more joy than I could have imagined. Every day is filled with his companionship, his love, his goofiness, morning cuddles, and his loyalty that I can’t imagine not having him in our lives. He has proven to me that I can love again after loss. Joy can be found on the other side of pain. The joy of having a dog far outweighs the pain of losing them.