Welcome, New Follower/Subscribers!

It is great to see several new followers come here, subscribe, and like posts! Thank you! I hope I can keep you engaged. If you’ve been following but find the posts hard to find – because I’m spotty when we’re not traveling – you can subscribe for free by going to the main page, upper right-hand corner. There is a list there, and the last one will let you subscribe. That way, you get every post in your email. You might also like to move to the beginning of the blog and read through. For several months last year, Jay’s best friend (and Jay in the beginning), had ‘The Journey of a Lifetime’ riding their bicycles across the country from La Push Beach in Washington State to Florida. Jay had to step away due to health issues, but we continued to blog for Art’s ride for him. We have been friends with Art and Cindy for around thirty years. Again, welcome, and please be sure to like the posts and comment when you can!

The Saddest News:

Now for the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long while. Our beautiful boy, Tristan, our only remaining pet in our household, passed away yesterday. He was thirteen years old. Our beautiful baby went for an hour-plus-long walk with his Daddy, came home, took his medication after a drink of water, ate, and lay down on the sofa. When I was getting dressed, he tried to come up the two steps into the bedroom and his right leg gave out. I massaged his back, hips, knees, not knowing what was wrong. Within fifteen minutes, his left leg gave out. If you’ve seen a dog drag their legs behind them, this was his condition. We rushed to the vet. There was nothing they could do. So my baby boy crossed the rainbow bridge to join his many sisters and brothers, our other cats and dogs we’ve had in our lives.

We didn’t sleep last night, feeling his absence in our home. We both keep thinking we see him, hear him, or feel him on the bed. I think his sweet little spirit is watching over us until he thinks we are okay. I posted to our dog park people to let them know, as he was beloved there, too. He was the best angel! I will miss him the rest of my life. I told him I’d see him when it was my time to come. We are left with huge holes in our hearts where this precious boy lived. What an honor and blessing it has been to be his Mama and Daddy. What a gift he has been to our child and to us.

The picture below is Tristan stretched out on the sofa. He loved to put his legs on things. When we went to bed, his legs were thrown over my legs and stomach as he scrunched up against me.

Below is a photo right after his last grooming:

And at the dog park, playing and running a little bit:

That’s my favorite way to remember him. Still running, tongue hanging out with a smile on his sweet face.

And one more. He would lie in our bedroom doorway and look at me from there. I blew him kisses and told him what a good boy he was.

Hold your pets and the rest of your family close, Dear Readers. This was a shock and a harsh goodbye to our baby boy. Thank you for being here. May you have peace in your lives and spread kindness everywhere.