My mom and I are going to Florida in two weeks.  Her mother is down there for a few months stay with her sister.  Nan’s sister’s daughter also lives next door.  We call it Del Boca Vista for laughs.

SInce my mom has been taking care of Rambo round the clock for the last few months - he couldn’t walk much on his own so she had to carry him every time he needed to go out or eat or even move to another spot on the floor.  He also got to sleeping more during the day and being awake at night instead (something I’ve read is common in senior dogs), so my mom spent most nights on the couch so she could take him for walks at 3am.  It’s been a lot of work for her, but she did it out of love.  Sure his legs didn’t work very well, but he was happy and didn’t show signs of pain, so it was worth the trouble.

Of course now that our beloved is gone, she’s getting some well deserved rest, although I think in the end she’d prefer no sleep if it meant he were still here.  But we can’t be selfish; he lived a long life.

So Jon found inexpensive flights to Florida in two weeks and she and I are going to go for a few days to stay at ‘Del Boca Vista’ with the sisters.  They’re not far from Disney World (the happiest place on Earth!), and as mega huge Disney fans my mom and I are going to the Magic Kingdom for a day.  I’ve always described Disney World as a place I could be at and forget real life for awhile, so I figured it would be nice for us to go.  It’s too bad Jon, my dad, and my brother can’t come down as well.  The loss of Rambo, although somewhat expected due to his age, hit us all extremely hard.  But that’s what happens when you lose a family member - yes, a family member, because he was not just a dog - who has been in your life for 15 and a half years.  I know I keep talking about it, but he was my sunshine.  The first thing I would do when I got home was greet him (since lately he’d been too old to come and greet me like he used to) and give him hugs and kisses.  We’re going up on Wednesday and I really don’t know what to expect when I walk in the house.  I think it’s going to be hard to see his empty bed and his collar and scarf (that I made him for Christmas) hanging up.  We’ll probably even keep finding little furs here and there for awhile.  To top it off, the reason we’re going back to visit is for my Pop’s memorial service, so obviously it wasn’t even meant to be a very happy weekend in the first place.

Anyway, thanks for listening.  I’m not much of a journaler like I used to be (I found it weird to talk to myself, actually), so this is kind of my way of getting my feelings out.  A little risky given that it’s an open forum for all sorts of people to read and judge, but luckily I’ve gotten lots of comments from some great people giving their sympathies, and I’m thankful for that.

Onward to happier thoughts now.  I’m sorry for bumming everyone out over the past few days, but you know what they say: misery loves company.