Dear Teddy (aka sweet T, T baby, Teddy bear, Teddy boy),
I started missing you the moment that we said goodbye and left you behind at the animal clinic. It has only been a week since your passing, but it feels like it has been so much longer. The void that you left in our hearts and family is bigger than I could have ever expected. I keep thinking that I hear your collar jingling, or the soft pitter-patter of your paws on the hardwood floors as if you were coming down the hall to visit us in our bedroom. Don't even get me started on the bell that you would ring to go outside (or to just get our attention whenever you felt overlooked). What I would do to hear you ring that bell just one more time...
You left us before we were ever able to understand what was ailing you, but the day after you passed, we learned that you had aleukemic leukemia. This was determined by a bone marrow aspiration test that had been conducted several days prior. However, in the few days after the test, your condition worsened so quickly and you were suffering so greatly that we could not justify holding onto you any longer. The specialist later told us that the prognosis for your leukemia was poor and the treatment would have required multiple forms of chemotherapy. Everyone involved in your care agreed that we had made the right decision to let you go. Your sweet little body would not have been able to handle such a treatment in the state you were in.
Now, we are doing our best to try and adjust to life without you and remember all of the good times that we shared. The amount of joy that you brought to Bobby and me in your short life (two years + seven months) was remarkable. We've been looking through the hundreds of pictures and videos of you doing silly things or just being your usual sweet self. You're still making us smile and laugh, even after you're gone.
There are so many things that I want to thank you for. From the time we picked you up, you began teaching us what life is all about. You began preparing us for parenthood on our very first night at home with you. We didn't know it when we picked you up, but you had contracted coccidiosis and we were up nearly every hour of the night running you outside to use the bathroom. Thankfully, you recovered from your illness and we soon became our own little family.
Because you joined us shortly after we bought our first home, pretty much every memory we've made here has had you in it. You made our house into a home as much as we did. You gave us a reason to wake up with joy each day, greeted us at the door with your sleepy smile after a long day's work and lulled us to sleep with your frenchie snores each night. You wanted all of our house guests to feel at home when they visited and definitely reminded us that furniture/rugs should never be too precious.
Even through your death, you've continued teaching us. You have reminded us to rely on one another in tough times, and that we are each other's closest confidants. You showed us that life is made rich through the ones you share it with, not by your earthly possessions. Ultimately, you taught us that we are dog people. It is painful to think about not having you around, but I know you would want us to move on and live the happiest lives we can. We love you, Teddy. Your memory will live on in our hearts forever.
P.S. Linley was just starting to notice you and loved to pet you and watch you play. She doesn't realize it now, but she has already had the best dog she'll ever have and she was only six months old.
