Goodbye, Bentley

This month, our dog died. Bentley would have been 9 on March 24th, so he has been around for all of Grace's life. I am so sad that it happened now - Bentley and Grace were having so much fun playing together over the past few months. We had hoped for several more years with Bentley and were really surprised when the vet told us that Bentley had a fatal tumor in his belly. We were told that we would have about 2-4 more weeks. 6 days later, Bentley woke up and didn't have the use of one of his legs (we think the tumor, which was larger than my head, was pressing on his spinal cord). He died that day around 1.

I started trying to prepare Grace for his death. So, I told her that we were sending Bentley to live with Poppy in Heaven because Poppy would love to play with him. She said, "No, mommy! Bentley is too heavy. He can't float."

I explained that it doesn't matter what you look like or how heavy you are, you can still go to Heaven.

Then, the day he died, we wanted to get out of the house so we went to eat lunch. We were sitting on the outside balcony of a little sandwich shop when a helicopter flew over head. You said, "There is Bentley's helicopter! They are taking him to Heaven!"

You are doing well with the adjustment. But, almost every time we come home, you run to let Bentley out and I have to explain it all over again. You keep reminding me to close your playroom door so Bentley can't get in - or to put up the bread because he loves to eat it. I don't think you realize that he isn't coming back.