Going private, The Hard Goodbye

In my discussion yesterday I mentioned the possibility of making the blog a “private” site.  I am going to move forward with that change.  What does that mean for you if you are a regular reader of the content?  Basically you will be prompted to create an account, once doing so you will need to verify your email address.  You MAY need to check your spam or junk mail folder if you do not see the confirmation.  If all goes smoothly the entire process should take less than 60 seconds.  Once your account is created you use those credentials to log in, it’s pretty easy.

So the what and why of this is pretty simple.  What this will accomplish is taking my personal blog out of the public internet for just anyone to see.  The more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me for some of the reasons I discussed yesterday.  I can still exercise my creativity, I can still express feelings and thoughts that I may not do in other ways but I can do so without making it a public event.  Once I flip this switch you won’t be able to read this heads up either, without registering.  There may be a few bugs as I make the transition but I’ll work them out, be patient.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Ali that her and Shugs both felt it was time for us to put Sadie to rest.  When I picked up Elsa in the morning Sadie was on her side looking exhausted and pretty non-responsive.  Ali said they were going to a vet that was close to their place in Babcock at 5PM.  I told her I would be there.

When Ali and Shugs arrived it was emotional for all of us.  We stood out in the parking lot for awhile petting and talking to Sadie as we waited for a tech to come out.  As we stood there we talked about some of the happy times we shared with Sadie, it helped make the sadness lighten, if only for a few moments.

When the tech came out she directed us to a side door we could enter.  I carefully pulled Sadie out of the back seat and carried her inside, laying her on a table.  The vet came in to talk to us, thoroughly explaining everything, she was very kind and sensitive to the situation.  As we stood there waiting for the procedure to start tears were flowing as we knew the end was coming.  Despite this knowledge we all had zero doubt that this was the right thing to do, the time had come. It almost felt like Sadie knew as well.

I had not participated in a pet euthanasia since we had cats put down probably some 15 years prior. Despite so much time passing I have pretty vivid memories of the experience.  The vet came in and gave Sadie a sedative first to make the process painless.  Once the drug was given to put her to sleep it happened very quickly, as I remembered.  In the matter of seconds she was gone, finally at peace.

Sadie has had a very rough last couple of years but she always had been a fighter, always emanating joy and love despite her body failing on her in various ways.  Ali and I had talked about the amazing time when we visited my dad and step mom who lived in New Mexico at the time.  We took a road trip out there with Nicki and Sadie.  They had their two young dogs, Maggie and Clara.  The four dogs played endlessly, running around the yard so much that Sadie actually ripped the pads on a couple of her paws.  That time capsule is one I will always cherish.  Sadie was the last survivor of the four dogs.  I can only hope she is once again running free….