A Sad Day

Today we had to say goodbye to Rocky- and it has been a sad day. The doctors felt like his organs would begin to shut down by this weekend, so we decided to put him down before he began to suffer. We have been trying to fight this auto-immune battle for the past 7 months and finally lost. We are so thankful for each day we had with him.

Right after Jerel and I married (July 2006) we talked about wanting a dog, but really didn't know what to get. At the time I was working in Atlanta and he was working in Raleigh and we were just gone way to much for a dog. In the meantime I had met my friends David and Meg's dog Bocci- who was a Wheaten Terrier and loved him. Jerel also randomly met Bocci and thought he was so cool. We researched the breed and were interested but had heard that they are not always great with children. We knew that we wanted children and because of traveling we were still in no place to get a dog.

In February 2007 we found out that we were pregnant (oops!!). Jerel had been planning on taking me to New York for Valentines day. Our first morning there we were getting ready to explore the city and I had on the movie Rocky III while we were getting ready (I love the Rocky movies). As we were leaving the hotel my friend David called me. I also worked with David and figured if it was a work-related phone call I was unavailable. I listened to his message and called him back immediately. He and Meg had been fostering another Wheaten Terrier for the weekend through their vet and was looking to find this sweet dog a good home. Because I was newly pregnant I 1)knew that my travel schedule was going to drastically change and 2) was a little nervous that this dog would not be great with babies. Good news- David and Meg had a new baby and this dog so gentle and licking their baby's feet. The vet said that I could come down to Athens and take the dog for a 2 week trail if I would like. As we are walking through the streets of NY and I am on the phone, I ask the name and am told that his name is Rocky. Since we were watching the movie 5 minutes earlier we took it as a sign and told him we would come take the dog the next weekend. 25 minutes into my 2 week trial with Rocky I knew he was our dog! A week later I found out that I was miscarrying the baby and sweet Rocky was some of the balm that helped heal my broken heart.

Sadly, I don't know if we will ever be able to replace him. He was AMAZING with our children. He did not shed, hardly ever barked, never chewed on the kids toys, and only ever had two accidents in our house (which were actually our fault). We would take him down town with us every weekend and he was famous. He loved to greet people and people loved to pet him. He will be missed by many!