Verdi

Today we said good-bye to our "first child" and sweet dog--Verdi.  He was 13 years old this spring. 

We got Verdi just a couple of weeks before we were engaged, so technically, he was my dog, but Stephen loved him just as much as me, if not more.  We picked him out of a litter in Ruston and of the puppies, he was the shyest. 

He loved to have a ball thrown.  He also would play by himself by batting it against a wall and catching it.  Once we had a pool, he adored swimming, but it didn't bode well for his ears.  He taught me a good deal about parenting--discipline, responsibility, sleeping in bed with me, etc.  Cavett and Kendrick loved playing with him and taking him on walks. 

We love you, Verdi.  See you in heaven.

Verdi

My first baby went missing today. Verdi is our 10 year old, black cocker spaniel with a white chest. (He was named after the opera composer, Guiseppi Verdi.) I think maybe the weather freaked him out and he wiggled out under the fence. Our other dog, Puccini is still here, but is whining missing his brother as we all are. Unfortunately, as we were sweeping out the garage tonight, we found Verdi's tags.

Our engagement picture in 1999

Stephen is out driving around trying to find him and we keep going outside calling him, whistling our "yoo hoo" call.

He is a really sweet and calm dog who loves to play fetch in the pool. He'll even "throw" a tennis ball to you. Hopefully, if we don't find each other again, he has found someone nice who will take him in on this cold, windy night. I just hate to think he is out there shivering and sad.