Dad of Lulu - sweet Lulu has crossed The Bridge

That is so weird that she turned up like that. Almost like a gift!

Flynn came into my life unexpectedly too, I had never had a dog in my life till he arrived. I found him as a 6 month old pup running in traffic on a busy road. I rescued him and took him to the shopping centre nearby, but noone came to get him so I took him home :D:D My family called me a dognapper!!! But the next day I did take him to the SPCA to try and find his owner, but no-one appeared over the next week so mine he became and I have loved him ever since :D:D Some of our fur babies come into our lives in mysterious ways and they leave such an imprint on our hearts. There must be a reason they just appeared like Lulu and Flynn, I think they are looking for their soul family and by crikey they are lucky they found us and we are even more lucky they picked us to stay with. Smart girl your Lulu :D

Oh Trish, I am so glad you got Flynn almost the same way we got Lulu. I think the ones we get, just out of the blue like that, are truly meant to be, don't you? I think Lulu was looking for us, and thank God she found us. I truly believe we were meant to be together, just like you and Flynn. I just pray that Flynn gives you as much love and pleasure as Lulu gave us.
Moo

Oh he does give me lots of fun, pleasure and love in his own little terrier way :D He is not a smoochy dog, won't sleep in my bed or cuddle much on the couch, hates being kissed, but will happily kiss me when he feels the time is right haha usually just after he has eaten something stinky like fish! I have had him 11 years now so know all his funny ways he is such a great companion and I worry so when he is sick, as we all do. He is at his most happiest up the beach, eating, running, going on walks, digging holes in my lawn, absolutely destroying his toys, visitors, his Nan and Grandad. What did Lulu like to do?

Trish xxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps I was just playing with him on my bed with his very sorry looking chewed up toy collection, I just took a photo for you and will pop it in my album

Oh Trish I just went over to your album and looked at your little guy. He is adorable. A real gift from God. He sounds like a real character. I love Terriers. I have had 2 westies, and they were so much fun, both rescues, one lived 16 years the other 14. I was so blessed to have them both.

Lulu was a real character in her youth too. She also loved to roll in smelly things. We have a good sized pond and she loved to go out there and roll in a dead fish if she could find one. We fed the fish every night,and she had to have some of the fish food. I think she loved to eat more than anything. Of course the cushings may have played a big part in that. We had to watch her or she would run her tounge up over the kitchen table and steal biscuits off the table before we knew what happened. She was not a real kisser either, but I always told her...it must be done,so she would let me kiss her all I wanted.
She was funny she had a real crotch fettish too. Lol. Any man that knew her, would knock on our door and then protect the family jewels before I opened the door. They knew she would be right there, as soon as she could get to them.

Of course she lost a lot of those things as she got older and more frail. But ya know, it was good to remember these things. Thanks for making me recall those things, Trish.
Moo

Oh Moo, it is such a treat to "talk" with you, too! As you can already see, we love your husband to death (and Bob, if you are logging on first this morning, don't let that comment go to your head!! :cool: :)). We are all hoping and praying SOOOOOO MUCH that this job comes through for you guys, for so many reasons. But especially so Stella will know the time is right for her to enter your lives. ;)

I love it that you already know her name! My hubby and I have "prenamed" our three dogs, too, but we didn't know anybody else who did the same thing. Our next little boy will be Chester. We don't know when and how he'll join us, but that's who he is. Our first baby (our Cushpup who is my avatar) was a yellow Lab named Barkis (named after Mr. Barkis who's a character in David Copperfield). We talked and dreamed about Barkis for years before he actually was born. We lived in little apartments and weren't allowed to own a big dog. But we would sit and share stories about what all we'd do with him. The stories would always start out with "When we get baby Barkis..." and then go on from there. The year we finally moved into a house was the year he was born. I'll never forget our joy the day we brought him home.

Anyway, it's wonderful to have you both here. I know how empty and lonely your house must feel right now. But I have hope and faith that the emptiness will once again be filled one day -- when the time is right -- when Stella comes home.

Marianne

Thank you Sooo much Marianne. The picture of your Barkis is beautiful. To me there is nothing more beautiful than a lab, of any color, but I am partial to the yellow ones.

That is so funny that you have pre named your babies. I pre named Lulu and of course "Stella". Don't ask me why, but about a year and a half ago, I got a bug up my bottom and I had to find a name for our next little girl. I studied names for 2 days before I came up with what I thought was the perfect name. Once I found the name, I settled down. I thought maybe the Lord was gonna send us another baby. Evidently, he had other plans. But I do believe when the time is right, we will meet our beloved Stella. No other pup will ever take Lulu's place in my heart, but I have a very big heart. There is lots of room in there for plenty of loves.
thank you so much for your prayers for Bob's job. We are praying soo hard. That is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. We are desperate.
good talking to you, honey.
Moo

Here's a grieving activity I thought of. Actually an exercise for keeping on tract, probably good if you have ADHD. Anyway half the exercise I learned 40 years ago was to think of something, I used to use dog or cat, so in this case it would be Lulu.

But instead of thinking of Lulu, do something that you did with the pet, such as a walk. It would be sort of the opposite where everything you do reminds you of your pet. But it would be the good times mostly.

The point is that your thoughts always go back to the main topic, (dog, cat or in my case our dog Lulu), it's just reverse. The things occur but we can almost always relate it back to Lulu was with us. I think the neurons in our brains get wired like this and it's not that we want to rewire them but they will in time with new experiences.

I used to take a walk with Lulu in a county park, about three miles, took about an hour. She loved it and would often pull me along. So the next time I do this, it will probably be by myself, and I'm sure I will be reminded of her often. I would bring my camera as I had taken my camera before and have pictures of her and the trail. But this time of course it would just be the scenery and any animals I might see along the way.

Don't know if this is good, but it is just an hour and I thought much better to do something short like this first before doing something that took more time, like an overnight trip we took.

And if we get a new dog, it certainly would be something I would try to do with the new pet. Because Lulu would want us to be happy.

I have mentioned my step-dad Bill in Florida, and I remember when my mom passed away, I was there with her in Spring Hill Florida when she did. One man at the funeral said, that Bill really needed my mom, and he said I don't expect that he will last the year.

When I left Florida I was calling Bill every day to see how he was doing and even set-up with a local agency, to call him once a day to make sure he was okay.

I think he got tired of this, and he was lonely, because about a month later he mentioned a new woman, Marion. He got married about three months later. This was six years ago and he is still around, and sent 20 dollars to go for a new dog.

Hope I haven't confused too many, if so then just skip this exercise. I think it is helpful to me, because I have used this sort of activity to keep on tract for quite some time. Let me know if you want to know both activities to keep on tract and I will send you a post I made on another forum on this.

Hi Bob and Moo - just checking in to see how you are both doing. Hope something has made you smile today to remind you that happier times are ahead as much as that seems hard to imagine at the moment. Hugs for you both xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Trish, we are hanging in there. We went to Woodsong park ten miles away and walked in the snow. I used to take Lulu to a few parks and places and I remember taking her to this one just after Labor Day. I let her walk it mostly off the leash as she wasn't going to run away, and this park has usually been quiet. I always carry the leash with me. I will put a couple of pictures up. Woodsong Park

Thanks Trish, for checking in on us. It is so funny....I think I am doing ok and all of a sudden out of no where I start bawling. Grief is so unpredictable. I. Never know when It is going to hit. I do feel better. Bob and I hhave spend enormous amounts of time talking abiut her and looking at pictures of her. Now when I see the pictures I smile more than I cry.

It was very good to go to the park and walk, in honor of our departed, girl. Somehow the snow and the cold, kept me from crying. If I had cried, the tears would have froze to my face. I wore 2 pairs of jeans, 2 shirts. And a sweater under my coat. Lulu would have loved it. She loved to root around in deep snow.

Thanks again, honey for your kindness.
Moo