Sad day in the Santiago House

The day we knew would come, but that we thought would come in a couple of years, came yesterday.  We woke up yesterday morning, and Sugar didn't.  The world's most awesome dog died.  On Monday, he seemed just fine.  He was barking relentlessly at the lawn guy in the afternoon.  He was with me in Lila's room when I put her to sleep.  Then he came into our room for a while.  Then he ended up in Ben's room for the night, and that's where Hector found him yesterday morning.  Ben actually walked right passed him when he woke up, but thankfully, he just thought he was sleeping.  Hector walked into the living room and asked me if I had noticed the poop on the floor.  I hadn't.  But Hector saw that it was black and knew something was wrong, so he went to look for Sugar.  He found him on the floor in Ben's room.  We are choosing to believe that he didn't suffer.  He made his rounds to say goodbye to all of us, and then ended up in his brother's room. 

Hector and I are taking it far harder than we thought we would.  We haven't known post college life without Sugar.  He's been our family member for the last 12 years.  He was somewhat our firstborn! Dealing with the death and telling Ben was really hard, but Ben actually took it really well.  We stressed out about how to tell him, but Hector took the lead and did a great job.  We were honest with him.  We told him Sugar died and went to doggy heaven.  Then we quickly proceeded to play with water balloons to distract him.  He had a few questions and didn't really understand why Sugar wasn't coming home, but he didn't really seem affected much by it.  He wasn't emotional at all.  And for that, we are extremely thankful.  He continues to ask about him, but in a healthy way, i think.

Hector and I, on the other hand, are blubbering idiots.  You don't realize how much a dog is part of your day to day life until he's gone.  He's not there to greet us at the door.  He's not there to grab our food when we drop it.  He's not there to protect our home.  He's not scratching at the back door to get out.  He's not running from Lila.  He's not cuddling with Ben.  He has a specific spot that he lays in pretty much every room of the house.  So, no matter what room I walk into, I miss him.  With two kids, Sugar definitely took a back seat the last several years, but he was an awesome dog, and he loved Ben and Lila.  We are so incredibly thankful for the time we had with him.  We're thankful for the experience he gave our kids.  We're even thankful even for the way he died.  We love that dog more than we even realized, and it will hurt for a long time, but it was totally worth it. 

Thank you Sugar Daddy for all you were to the Santiago family.  You were my gift to myself when I got my first raise.  You were there when Hector and I dated, when we broke up, when we dated again.  You probably even played a role in keeping us together.  You were there when we got married, when we bought the house, and when we had our two kids, and you've created memories that will last our lifetime.  You were God's gift to us, and I choose to believe we will see you again.  As far getting another dog, my mind can't even go there right now.  Sugar was the only dog in my life that I truly called mine, and now he's gone.  Any future dog will be more for the kids.

Sugar Daddy Santiago:  Born June 16, 2001.  Died June 25, 2013.