We had one of the saddest days we could ever imagine a few weeks ago. It was September 18th and we were driving home. We came up into the driveway and all of a sudden our world would never be the same. We had accidentally ran over Lyla, Bug's dog that we got her for Christmas this past year. The Hub said, "I just hit Lyla!" and quickly stopped to assess the situation. Meanwhile I got out of the car and tried keeping Bug and Baby occupied by looking at me and not at what was happening right out Bug's window. Obviously, Bug knew something was wrong, and had heard the Hub when he freaked. She was a trooper though and I took the girls inside without another word while the Hub stayed out with Lyla consoling her until the neighbor arrived to see what he thought. When the neighbor arrived he confirmed what the Hub had already known, there was no saving her. He then had to end her suffering and put her to rest down under one of our apple trees.
The Hub and I couldn't look at each other without tearing up and weren't sure what we were going to tell Bug. We thought about just lying to her, but in the end decided that both she and Lyla deserved the truth as they had become quite good companions. We sat her down and explained to her that Lyla had an accident and is now in Heaven with Jesus where she can play with him and help watch over and keep Bug safe. At first Bug thought it was just a story that we were telling her because she often had us tell her "Lyla and the Beanstalk" and asked us to tell her again. We then gently told her it wasn't a story and then it hit her. She started crying a cry I had never heard from her before and hope to never hear again. She kept saying, "I want Lyla. She's my friend!" The three of us were all crying and hugging (baby sleeping). Finally she calmed down and we prayed for Lyla and went to sleep.
Bug would mention Lyla in Heaven every once in awhile, but then just the other day she started naming her stuffed animals Lyla. It is obvious that she misses her as much as we do, probably even more, and breaks our hearts every time she mentions her, but I don't want to shun her from talking about her good friend. The Hub and I both thought it would be a good idea to get a cocker spaniel stuffed animal in Lyla's honor for Bug. We gave it to her tonight and she hasn't put it down yet. She still understands Lyla is in Heaven because she still mentioned it, but I think it might have eased her loss a bit.
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| Bringing her home for the first time <3 |
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| She fell asleep like this. She was such a goof ball |
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| She always wanted to be a part of what was going on |
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| Hiking and exploring together |
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| From our camping trip this year. |
Sorry if this was a sad post, it has been very hard for me to write it and find all those pictures. I'm hoping to find my own therapy out of doing it. It is just amazing to me that she made such a big impact in our lives for the short time that we had her. I miss her spunky little self running all over, cuddling, and playing with her best friend, Bug.
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Lyla, we miss you and are blessed to have had the time you spent with us in your life.
