It’s been two years today since Missy left us. I realized the other day that I wrote a memorial for Tank, but I never wrote one for her. Her passing was sudden and unexpected;  Matt & I are still reeling a bit from it. We were prepared with Tank.  Missy was a complete shock. However, as our sweet lil Bitty Bear, she deserves to be remembered, too.

Missy was a little clown, trouble maker, and laugh-inducer from day one. You could count on her not being predictable, which held a certain amount of charm. In some ways, it’s fitting that she left us unpredictably-she always did things her way. She and Tank were perfect together. He was the straight man to her comedienne.  To know Missy was to be loved by her. She was the most stubborn bulldog, and often she and I butted heads.  But I wouldn’t trade one bit of her spirit for any amount of easy.  When we learned that we were expecting, she was less than pleased and she let me know it. She ignored me. She would purposely turn her back to me.  I had forsaken her for a baby and she was now 100% Daddy’s girl. And then we lost the baby.  When I came home from the hospital, she became my chief comforter. She was by my side all the time.  She’d sit near me while I cried and lick the tears from my face. She would snuggle up against me, just letting me know she was there for me. I know we’re not supposed to assign human emotions to our dogs, but I can’t help but think that she was sorry for being upset and even more so for our loss.  She was stubborn, but she had a heart the size of Texas.

The morning of October 1, 2013 was beautiful and bright.  By 11:00 am, Missy was in distress with her breathing.  By 11:00 pm, she was gone. We saw our sweet girl late the night she passed. We spent time with her at the vet specialist,  petting her, loving on her.  Then I whispered to her that we really wanted her to come home with us. The boys missed her, we missed her. But I told her, too, that if it was her time that was ok. We would understand and we would always, always love her and be thankful she had been a part of our lives.  As sedated as she was, I could see the understanding in her eyes.  We’d been home about 30 minutes when they called to say she had passed about 10 minutes after we left. I think she was waiting for me to tell her it was ok, to say goodbye. I’m glad we had that moment with her. I’m glad that we were able to have her in our lives.

While Missy is no longer with us physically, she’s never far from our hearts and minds. Matt & I see a lot of her in Annie, Coal’s little girl. There are times when we wonder if Aunt Bitty Bear didn’t teach Annie a little bit of how to be a trouble maker because there are times when she is so quintessentially Missy-like, all we can do is laugh. I know Missy would approve.