Happy Tails, Until We Meet Again

One of the most difficult decisions we've made to date is re-housing our four-legged family members.  Gizmo, our Chihuahua, was the first to find his new home.  While I loved the little pooper, I know how happy he is to be the only dog, with no kids, and completely spoiled!  Scampers, our daughter's Guinea Pig (probably the cutest 'pig' ever) is going to a fantastic new home with a best friend.  Mya, hands down the best cat ever, is vacationing in Florida with the kid's grandmother until they fly out together later this year.  Henry, the Leopard Gecko, is still looking for a home.  His only request?  Crickets, please!

And then there is Max, our almost 10-year-old Golden Retriever.  There was no shortage of interested adopting families.  In the end, we decided to place him with a high school friend in Maine, with two children of her own, and a little pug named Ruby, who needed a little guidance from an older man, such as Max is. That's the motley crew pictured above, Max somehow letting our littlest know that everything would be okay.  

There's no doubt that we miss him. And, even more than missing him because he's our dog and we love him, I really find that I miss his actual presence.  I still expect him to come to the door with a toy in his mouth to greet me.  I wonder if we've left him outside when he doesn't bark at a knock at the door ... or a person walking by, or a car in the driveway, or when the kids close their bedroom doors a bit too hard.  I've asked more than once if he's been fed, and called for him to come clean up any food that has fallen to the floor. Just the other day, after writing the blog post about shipping our car, I stepped down off the breakfast bar stool, and stepped over the dog, who is now no longer there.

It has been, no question, the saddest part about leaving the mainland.  If I thought for a second the pets would be happy about being drugged out and under the plane as cargo for a 16-hour trip, and risk a three-month quarantine once on the island, I would spend the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars to get them there for their own Aloha State of Mind. However, as that is not in the plans ... anyone want a snake?