Goodbye Old Friend and Thank You!

Oh this post is so very hard to write.  On Thanksgiving Day, we had to say goodbye to our first "child" and our dear old friend.  Boots came into this family with Mark and has been a part of each and every chapter of our story.  He was grumpy and mean and banned from several vets in the area, but he was ours and we loved him.

He didn't run from the boys, but took every chance he could get to snuggle with them (and bite them).  They loved him and he looked for him whenever they went outside.  He was afraid of nothing - including our St. Bernard neighbor.

He had been outside since the Spring because he wouldn't stop peeing in the house, but because we are an outdoors family, he was still with us a great deal.  In the end, he got sick and stayed in his little heated house in the garage.  We brought him in the night before Thanksgiving and he spent his last night cuddled up with B, purring as hard as he could.  Mark took him in for tests Thankgiving morning and we were told the prognosis was not good.  His lungs were filled with fluid and he was essentially suffocating.  We packed up the boys and spent a few last minutes saying goodbye to our old friend.  He was full of personality and as all Vandygriffs do, he loved his family fiercely.   

Thank you for being a part of our lives, Boots.  We miss you terribly and will love you always!