friend

we lost a friend on sunday. 

david lost his buddy. shelby lost her best friend and companion for the past 7 years. 

these are the last two pictures i took of brodie and this is how i want to remember him. peeking through the picket fence to the garden. begging for a strawberry or tomato. 

he passed while laying in the shade between our two apple trees. i was there and could do nothing. 

that evening, while the children thought he was just resting, we blew bubbles in the garden. i opened the garden gate and called shelby to join us. there she laid, sharing the evening with us, in the garden where she was previously banned. she rested her head on her paws, and watched the bubbles fly to the clouds. 

the children were playing outside in the backyard tonight. "shelby, you're here!" i heard eli say. "brodie's in doggie heaven," he said to emma. 

i smiled because i couldn't have said it any better.