Our Sweet Oakley

I come here with a heavy heart today and many tears both on my face and in my soul. On Sunday night, Oakley (our lab/golden retriever mix) collapsed, and we ended up in the animal hospital. On Monday night, we had to make the decision to let our sweet Oakley girl go and put her down. In many ways, I am still trying to wrap my head around this. It feels surreal.

Grief is like the ocean;it comes in waves ebbing and flowing.Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.- Vicki Harrison

For those of you who know me offline, we lost my precious dog, Clyde, last July just 3 months before Oakley and Scout came into our lives. I was heartbroken. We'd had him for 7 years. My dad and I joint adopted him. He was the last piece of my dad that I still had since my dad passed away in 2013. Losing him was devastating, and I relived all the pain of losing my dad all over again. I never really posted publicly about it, because it rattled me so much.I feel like since we've lived so much of our venture with Oakley on here, y'all need to know. We have been so thankful of everyone who has walked this journey with us. Your prayers, encouraging words and suggestions have been truly appreciated more than we can ever express.+ To Our Sweet Oakley,I am so thankful we went on a walk that morning. You have been such a light into our lives. We love our new house and our neighborhood, but you and your sister, Scout, are what have truly made it a home. We love you so very much and pray that you knew how much you were loved while you were here with us. Thank you for loving us well, jumping up and down while partying when we got home, flashing your big toothy grin, drinking all the water, snore-lying, getting stuck in our patio furniture and simply being our sweet, lovable girl. We'd do it all again in a heartbeat.Forever your Mommy, Daddy + Scout