May 20 = Elmo Day

We lost Elmo today. Dh took him to the vet again this morning since he's not eating at all and has vomited up the little we could get into him. Which means no meds, we wanted to see if the vet could give them IV, I'm sure he needed fluids as well. However, once there they discovered that he now has a palpable mass in the abdomen. It was just the last straw...poor boy, he couldn't even get up on his legs. Dh had to carry him to the car.

It has been a heartbreaking day. Zach is a wreck. I didn't anticipate this level of emotion, it wasn't as if they were buddy buddy boy and his dog of the movies or anything. But he has cried and cried and cried. He went outside in the rain and sat down on his swing, just leaning his head against the chain and bawling. He was such a picture of a completely distraught and broken-hearted boy, I almost grabbed my camera but it was too personal and I couldn't intrude on his grief, exploiting it. And I really don't think I could stand to look at his face so sad over and over. Not to mention I was crying myself.

Over the course of the evening the tears would come and go. He did decide, however, that we should have "Elmo Day" every year, to remember and celebrate the sweetest dog who ever lived. A dog whose life was just too damned short.

My photo for today is a photo almost 7 years old, when we'd had Elmo for about 2 months, he would have been about 5 months old here. It's pure Elmo, taking whatever we or the boys would dish out, no resistance, just gently tolerating it all. And Zach...omg. What a little guy he was. I can't believe he's so big now.