An Ode To Trudie

12 years sounds like a long time, but in actuality I think 12 years flew by faster than I could keep track of.

I adopted Trudie Claudette from an abusive home when she was 6 months old.  When I got her she was extremely underweight, her collar was so tight her neck had no hair on it when I removed the collar, her back legs were slightly deformed, and she had the most quirky personality.  I'm fairly certain she was in her kennel a majority of the time and teased by little kids constantly.

Trudie Claudette - Mailman Hater, Nap lover, Food Vaccuum, Tiny Friend 2002-2014

I took her home with me to my apartment at SIUC and we became the best of friends.  I had a two hour drive home and she loved sitting on my lap as I drove and she always napped.  She was teeny tiny back then.

When Jade & I got married she moved in and was our first child.  I actually drove her to my Mom's house every morning to be babysat - ridiculous much?  Maybe a little.  She slept in our bed and I spooned her every night!

She welcomed home all 3 of our babies and allowed them to all lay on her and abuse her in their loving kid ways.  She moved from our bed and started sleeping with them - under the blankets of course!

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to her.  She was having some severe pain in her back hips and I just knew it was time.  It was incredibly hard and I did the ugly cry at the vets office then in my car before I left the parking lot.  Putting your pet down sucks - I know there are worst things in the world but none the less it ranked up there with a pretty bad day in my book of bad days.

We buried her under a group of big trees in our yard and the kids said their goodbyes.  It was a hard shitty day.  I took a nap and ate donuts to make myself feel remotely better for a bit - yes even I skip workouts and eat garbage at times - it's my old habits that pop up when I'm emotional.

The only highlight in the day was when we walked out to bury her and right beside her grave Everett Mason was peeing - boys will be boys?!  At least it was a good laugh to get us through her funeral and lay her to rest.

Today I keep looking for her, trying to feed her and put her outside - life is weird without her - but today we are all doing OK.