Dearest Delilah,

It has been 365 days since I last held and kissed you.  I want you to know how much I miss you.  Not a day goes by when I don’t think of you and tear up and there are many days when I still outright sob.

Your passing left a hole in my soul that I can’t close, no matter how hard I try.  There are so many things I miss.

• Those little grumbles you made when I moved my feet while you were sleeping.
• How you insisted you were a lap dog, despite being almost 70 pounds.
• How you jumped when I prepared your dinner.
• How you’d meet me at the top of the stairs, with a toy in your mouth when I came home.
• How willing you were to go for a walk, even in the cold and dark weather.

Most of all, I want to thank you for saving me after Sampson left.  You kept me going, gave me a sense of normalcy.

I talk to you and Sampson every night (as you know.) But I wanted to write this here, to let you know how much I loved and still love you and how I miss you with my whole heart.

Until we meet at the bridge, my love.

Your devoted Mom

(To the few of you who still read this blog, I do have plans to post about Delilah’s passing, I just can’t bring myself to finish it yet. Thank you for hanging in there with me.)

For those of you who tuned in thinking Delilah took up golf, think again. No, it wasn’t badminton either, and disc golf is out as well.

It was a real bird.

Here’s how it went down.

It was July 30th, Sampson’s birthday. I started the morning with a walk with the Birthday Boy. In our travels Sampson discovered a little bird, tucked away in some landscaping. Naturally, he was captivated by it, but the bird just sat there, very still.

I got as close as I dared with Lunatic on a Leash, but the bird didn’t move. I figured it was stunned, or hurt, so it was best to leave it alone.

On our return trip, I checked for the bird and it was gone! Yay, I thought, the bird recovered and went on its way. Sort of like that squirrel I knocked out that one time…

I got home and swapped out the dogs and took Delilah for her walk, it was a nice, quiet walk and she took the long route, which was fine with me.

My dogs are funny when they walk. Sampson has a tendency to walk in the grass, while Delilah prefers the blacktop.

So there we were about five houses from home. I was basking in the beauty of early morning and thinking what a nice, peaceful walk it had been. Delilah was walking beside me, thinking, Dog only knows what.

Suddenly, the bird was there. It must have flown across the street from where it originally was, and settled down in the grass. In our obliviousness, we hadn’t seen it.

The bird flew out right in front of Delilah, startling her.  And in her surprise, she pumped her feet up and down, (much like a person flailing their arms) and bit at it. (She might have looked like me swatting at those damn bugs, except I try not to bite

At first, I couldn’t see what was happening, I just heard the noise, saw her distress, and her feet stamping up and down, so I quickly urged her closer to me. Once we were a short distance away, I saw the bird.

We both just stood there and stared at it.

The poor little bird, its little leg shook for a moment and then I’m pretty sure it was gone, if not, it went quickly afterwards. I felt horrible. If I’d seen it, I would have avoided it.

We’ve seen lots of crazy things on our walks, but we’ve never trampled a bird before. Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?