Two Windows, One Closed

   Four years ago today, we said goodbye to our precious boy Truman.
   Many of you have been there, and you know what a dreadful day it is.  The fact that Truman's euthanising was severely mishandled only added to our grief.
   Having to keep it together while driving home after was hard.  Truman was perfectly well until the morning of, so we were completely shell shocked.
   I was surprised how many people heard the news, and immediately responded by asking if we were getting another dog.  It's an insensitive reaction, but if you've never loved a dog of your own, I guess you wouldn't know.
   It took months for us to feel anything like normal again, and during that time, the mere thought that we would replace Truman made us feel deeply disloyal.  I couldn't bear the idea that Truman might possibly be out there somewhere to see that we had simply replaced him.  An irrational thought for sure, especially for a pair of atheists, but grief will do that to you.
   In an impetuous moment, we actually agreed to adopt a Pug who we'd heard about through friends. Penny was an elderly, one-eyed, homeless, and recently bereaved girl who needed a family, and we agreed to have her.  But by the time her foster carers had heard about us, they had decided to keep her.  We felt very sad about this, but little did we know that something better, and certainly bigger, was out there for us.

   Lucky,  by complete coincidence the great-nephew of Truman, was gifted to us by his lovely first family, and the time was right.  He healed us.
   We finally scattered Truman's ashes at Tyninghame with Lucky by our side, and it's been smooth sailing ever since.