Thank You

Living the High Life with a Good Looking Man About Town

Thank you for all the wonderful comments, emails, photos, cards and remembrances in the loss of our beloved Maggie, your Long and Short of it All hostess.  Each was read, appreciated, and loved.  Such kind words mean more than you could know.  It's been two weeks now since we lost her, the house is incredibly lonely, but each day gets better, at least that is what they say.  And it does...somewhat. 

Maggie had such an extraordinary presence - when she walked into a room, heads would turn - and it was no different than the large yet calming presence she had in her own home.  So it's a bit empty, and you think that you keep seeing her here and there (and everywhere!).

Having Joey, Maggie's littermate brother, around has provided great comfort.  He's doing OK.  He seems to sniff around for Maggie sometimes, but he's mostly adjusted.   For several days after Maggie was gone, Joey would come to the head of the big bed (which he hates, he'd rather be at the foot or in the center), and would just stand there while staring at the wall while dad would pet and talk to him.  He seemed to want and need the consolation, standing there still in silence for a good ten minutes or so each night for several nights.

Joey did get to go out for lunch with friends at a local restaurant a few days after Maggie's passing (see photo above) and provided great comic relief with his sly smile and clever ways.  He was such a good boy sitting in his own chair and waiting patiently for little bites of BBQ and sweet potato fries.   He also got to have a playdate with 8 of his Dachshund friends which he greatly enjoyed. 

There's a message on the answering machine we haven't checked yet, but coming from the vet's office, it most likely means that Maggie's ashes are back.  We still have to order her permanent urn, which will come from atpeace.com and will be similar to Louie's, which we got there some 11 years ago.  They provided the urn, and the beautiful white Dachshund statue came from a little antique shop in Amsterdam.  We were happy to find that the website was still in business after all these years.  A fine vintage bronze longhair Dachshund will sit proudly atop Maggie's urn. 

There are rumors that another Dachshund may soon come into our lives.  We weren't searching for another, but there he was, we fell in love with his eyes, he can help fill this hole in our heart, and we can give him a great home.  It seems incredibly soon after Maggie's passing, which we are really struggling with.  When is too soon?  Days, weeks, months, years?  How soon is now?  We've learned after Louie's passing that it can take many years to fully come to terms with the passing of a beloved furry friend.  But that furry friend will never leave your heart, and would never want you to be sad, crying, and moping around the house.  Dogs live in the present as they say, and they want you to as well.  So, as you never know what life is going to send your way, there may be a new Dachshund in our lives in the next few weeks.  Joey needs another buddy.  So does Dad.

As far as the "state of the blog," Dad has always said that if anything ever happened to Joey or Maggie, that the blog would cease to exist - it's their blog after all.  We're not so sure of that at the moment, maybe we'll be back soon - there have been some great Dachshund stories recently that we felt an urgent need to post.  Whatever would we do without this site and our wonderful friends here?

Thanks so much again.

Yours in Dachshund Love,

Joey and his Dad......