Goodbye Old Friend

Bob and I had to say goodbye to our big sweet Rocky Boy yesterday. Rocky was filled with cancer and it was in his bones and hips causing him excruciating pain. He went downhill fast and yesterday let us know it was time. Bob and I held him as he passed quietly and quickly and cried our eyes out too.

What a sweet boy. The Longmires could have had 4 doggie lifetimes with Rocky and still felt like it wasn't enough time. Rocky was special. Bob and I were always sure that Rocky was going to live forever. Not because he wanted too, but because we were sure we couldn't get by without the big ole boy in our lives. I will tell you, his pain was so great this week that Bob and I knew we could no longer hold onto him, it was time.


Its 2AM right now and I just can't sleep. My eyes are so swollen and dry from all of the tears, and frankly, the house is just too quiet. He isn't on his bed or on the floor between our rooms. Makes me realize how safe I felt having him around. He took his guarding responsibilities seriously and spent most of his time carefully placed between the 3 people he loved most, equidistant watching over us. Boy, I miss it. The loss is unbelievably great. Feels in a real way like an arm of our family has been sliced off. Man this hurts.

Rocky came to us at the sweet age of 6 and instantly became a part of the family.



When I look back I remember fighting Bob on getting him, after all, I did not want a big dog. How blessed I am to have lost that fight. Rocky was so worth it and he quickly stole a big part of my heart.


But no matter how much I loved Rocky, or how much he loved me, I couldn't hold a candle to the love and affection exchanged between him and Bob.





What an incredible relationship and brotherhood. Rocky was Bob's dog, no doubt about it.

Bob told me a story last night from Rocky's puppyhood that made me smile. Rocky was Grandma Jill's dog first and they got him when he was a enormous pawed puppy full of energy. Bob remembers that Rocky was yippy and would bark and make all sorts of noise as a little guy. One night he was playing cards with his buddies and little Rocky wouldn't stop yipping. Bob got up, went over to him, and just started barking in a big voice at him to which little puppy Rocky, surprised as all get out, fell flat all over his uncoordinated self. From that moment, Rocky loved and respected Bob, and every time Bob would come home for a visit, Rocky just came alive. There was a connection. The Boy and his dog.


I have so many special and precious memories of our sweet friend, and I could probably fill a large book recounting all of them. I am finding, though, that there are not enough words in the english language to truly depict how much Rocky meant to all of us, especially Bob, especially me.




How do you describe something that extends into the soul? It's simple, I can't. Those feelings are mine and will have to stay as such. I still can't help though sharing some of the sweetest memories that I have of our Rockstar.


.......he used to lay right behind Bob's chair when he would work from home. The never wavering companion


........how precious he was with Lily. He loved her a lot.







.......he could make Lily giggle loud and long, such a sweet sound




...... he could eat ANYTHING and not get sick, chocolate, baby formula, wrappers with food on them. It was AMAZING
.......he always barked to warn people at the door, like he was saying "I'm here and these are the most precious people to me, tread carefully."
.......he was always around letting me know he was there for me while I was throwing up in the first trimester





...... how he would snuggle with Bob. He just couldn't get close enough.


......how much he loved to be with us. So much so that he would move heaven and earth (sometimes literally) to be sure he wasn't forgotten


......he used to sleep bark while dream running through the woods. You catch those bunnies Rocky! Go Buddy.
......he used to lay "junk to the world" with no care for decency, nope, he wanted some tummy love.
......how excited he was when we would come home. Tail wagging, he would always meet us at the door. A true welcome.


......he would drink out of the toilet and leave a trail of water on the seat and the floor. Gonna miss not having a wet behind in the middle of the night.
.......how he would wait for Bob to come home. It was especially precious when he and Lily did it together.


......he would roll around on the floor after a bath desperately trying to get the wetness off. It provided Bob and I with many belly laughs.
......how soft he was after a bath and how I enjoyed snuggling and petting him for hours after.
.......vacuuming him. It was the best way to control the massive amounts of hair.
......letting him lick the tuna fish cans. He used to chase them around the hard floor until he figured out how to hold it between his paws.
......how much he loved the mountains and how much I wish he could have lived in them. Such freedom.




......the first time we travelled to Pagosa Springs to camp with Feddy and Kemo. He didn't want to be away from us so we all slept in the horse trailer with him. He got to sleep on our air mattress with us and LOVED it. Frankly, so did we.
......running with Rocky. No one could touch me, He was simply the best running companion ever. He always wanted to go and was flat out knock-everything-over, cant-get-out-of-the-door-fast-enough excited.
......how Bob always said goodnight to Rocky. He would get down on the floor and snuggle with him.......every single night.
.......how I always felt safe when Bob was travelling because Rocky was always there by my side
.......how much he loved me, even through the times when I didn't love him like I should. His love put me to shame.

I will miss so much about him, but especially his ears.



"Uppy Downy" is what we called him. Some people thought that he looked funny with one ear up and one ear down, but I thought that made him so special. From the first day I met him 8 years ago, his ears are what endeared him to me. I will miss seeing him every time I turn around.

Rocky's was a life well lived, a beautiful doggy life. If there was ever a time where I want to believe that All Dogs go to Heaven it is most definitely now. I like to think of him hanging out with Armondo, chasing gofers and eating food off of Jesus' table. Yes, that would be fitting.

What a great dog, what a precious friend. We will miss you dearly Rocky.

Valentimes

Yep, you read the heading right, this year we are celebrating Valentimes Day.

Bob and I volunteer for Sunday School at our Church. While Bob is a small group leader for the 3rd grade boys, I get some future practice handling the 4 year olds. Let me tell you, 4 year olds are great. Last week we had Alexa in our classroom. Now the way to describe Alexa is this, she says what she says, she means what she says, she knows why she said it and doesn't understand why you don't get it. Got the picture? She is adorable, but outspoken, precocious and bold. So I sat down next to her as everyone was coloring their hearts and asked her, "So, Alexa, are you excited for Valentines Day?" She immediately replied, "Miss Bethany, its ValenTIMES Day." Thinking I must have heard her wrong I corrected, "Don't you mean ValenTINES Day?" to which she quickly quipped, "Nope, ValenTIMES, I get ValenTIMES cookies, ValenTIMES cards and a ValenTIMES party." I sat there wondering if I should continue the debate and decided against it. I conceded, "Well then, Miss Alexa, I hope you have a great ValenTIMES Day."


I thought about that little conversation all afternoon and over the past day. While to little Alexa it was purely about a difference in spelling, I started to ponder how I could pull a nugget of deeper meaning from the great ValenTIMES debate. Then as I thought about our weekend and how we were going to celebrate Valentines, it hit me. When Bob and I talk about our life, we talk about it in times, "Remember the time when........." or, "The time goes by so quickly now......" or "Times have sure changed." Every high and low point that we have had in our life, every expression of love centers around a time.



The beautiful thing is that the times don't wait for a special day or a special month, no, they keep happening no matter what.

Valentines Day has this aura of a "Give a little more than you normally would for one day" kind of love. You know, go the extra mile on this one day to show your love to someone. Its great to get flowers, give cards, lavish chocolate and fluffy "I love you" teddys, but what if we lived life, our times, like it was Valentines Day always? How amazing could our relationships be if we lived out all of the high and low times of life showing that special Valentines Day kind of love. It won't be easy and there will be times where extending that special V-day love will be a challenge, but imagine how we could affect our world if we all chose to live this way. Imagine how we could share the Love of Christ with others through ValenTIMES loving them. What a difference we could make! This was my challenge this year, extended to me by a bold little 4 year old. I want to have a marriage and life that celebrates ValenTIMES Day all throughout the year.