Sweet Riley Jean

Tonight, very suddenly, we lost our sweet family dog Riley Jean or as Moses called her "Ryry or Rirey." We noticed this afternoon that she just curled up and wouldn't move. We called the vet and he urged us to bring her in. We honestly thought it was a virus of some sort. After looking her over they noticed she had fluid around her heart and it was enlarged twice the normal size. They began to do a procedure to drain the fluid and noticed that it was blood. At that point, we realized that it was something very bad. We made the very sad decision to let her go. Apparently she had a tumor in or around her heart that ruptured. It happened very quickly. There were no other outward signs that she was sick. Up until this afternoon she was her usual happy hyper self.

Riley was actually a Christmas gift from Brett the first year we were dating. He had a black lab named Dixie and they were fast friends. They were as night and day as the color of their coats in terms of personalities. When Riley was hyper, Dixie was quiet, but they played together beautifully. Dixie died of bone cancer a few weeks after Moses was born. Riley was such a trooper, but I know she missed Dixie terribly. She was such a great comfort to us when we were missing her sister.

I still marvel at the relationship she had with Moses. They have always loved each other dearly. Moses has always been as gentle as Riley was with him. He loved to feed her and throw the ball for her. He would giggle at her doggie kisses when she came barreling in the house.

Trying to explain to a two year old where his doggie has gone will be difficult. We have decided to tell her that Riley has gone to heaven. At this age, Moses asks the same questions a million times, especially when it comes to where people are. He's always been able to see Riley even when she was outside. He knew if he knocked on the window or door she would run up to check on him.

Please keep us in your prayers. We are suddenly petless after 10 years and are missing our fur babies. We are trying to remember to be thankful to God even in hard times. We are so thankful for the love and life both our pets brought to us. We take great comfort in knowing that our sweet dogs are finally playing together forever.