Bittersweet Halloween
Halloween is so much more fun with kids around, especially since they are young and I can dress them up in whatever I want. I have to savor these years because pretty soon they'll just want to put on black clothes and say it's a costume. Since we only get one year's use from these costumes, I'm determined to get the most out of them. Last weekend was our neighborhood fall festival, which Ainsley dressed up for. Last night we took them to Trunk-or-Treat at our church. Today they have a costume parade at her school. And I'm really looking forward to trick-or-treating with them tonight.
But in the midst of all the fun and games, Halloween also brings a twinge of sadness. It was October 31, 2010 when we took our beloved Duke Dog to the vet for surgery to remove what we thought was a benign fatty tumor from his ribcage. He'd always had a small lump on his side and we'd had it tested over the years to confirm that it was a simple fatty mass - extremely common in labs. But over the summer of 2010 it had started to grow from a small lump the size of a grape, into something that was the size of a tennis ball.
During surgery they discovered a large cancerous tumor that was fully wrapped around his ribcage, making it impossible to remove. And so, that evening when my DH returned home from work, excited about our daughter's first 'real' Halloween (she was 18 months old), I had to break the news of Duke's cancer. To make matters worse, about the time that children were starting to ring doorbells, Duke was starting to have complications from the surgery. We knew we couldn't take Ainsley with us - she was ready to show off her witch costume - and so my DH took Duke to the emergency vet while I stayed with Ainsley.
While I walked door-to-door with our daughter, all I could think about was whether I'd get to see my big blonde baby again. My DH sat in the vet's office, worried about the fate of our dog, and had to miss Ainsley's first trick-or-treating experience.
Duke did make it home that night, thankfully, and he stayed with us for another ten weeks before his final farewell. But now, even three years later, I still shed a tear on Halloween. I will always think of it as the day we found out that our 'first baby' wouldn't be with us much longer.
So today, in honor of the world's goofiest, most loveable lab/great dane, I hope to provide a few laughs with the many 'costumes' we put on him over the years. Just like Ainsley and Parker now, he let me dress him up in whatever I liked.
Happy Halloween from Duke Dog!
But in the midst of all the fun and games, Halloween also brings a twinge of sadness. It was October 31, 2010 when we took our beloved Duke Dog to the vet for surgery to remove what we thought was a benign fatty tumor from his ribcage. He'd always had a small lump on his side and we'd had it tested over the years to confirm that it was a simple fatty mass - extremely common in labs. But over the summer of 2010 it had started to grow from a small lump the size of a grape, into something that was the size of a tennis ball.
During surgery they discovered a large cancerous tumor that was fully wrapped around his ribcage, making it impossible to remove. And so, that evening when my DH returned home from work, excited about our daughter's first 'real' Halloween (she was 18 months old), I had to break the news of Duke's cancer. To make matters worse, about the time that children were starting to ring doorbells, Duke was starting to have complications from the surgery. We knew we couldn't take Ainsley with us - she was ready to show off her witch costume - and so my DH took Duke to the emergency vet while I stayed with Ainsley.
While I walked door-to-door with our daughter, all I could think about was whether I'd get to see my big blonde baby again. My DH sat in the vet's office, worried about the fate of our dog, and had to miss Ainsley's first trick-or-treating experience.
Duke did make it home that night, thankfully, and he stayed with us for another ten weeks before his final farewell. But now, even three years later, I still shed a tear on Halloween. I will always think of it as the day we found out that our 'first baby' wouldn't be with us much longer.
So today, in honor of the world's goofiest, most loveable lab/great dane, I hope to provide a few laughs with the many 'costumes' we put on him over the years. Just like Ainsley and Parker now, he let me dress him up in whatever I liked.
Happy Halloween from Duke Dog!
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