Key West Prologue

(The first paragraph of this is a bummer but please continue to read and it will lighten up significantly. I promise. It felt necessary to start it this way though.)

It has been more than a year-and-a-half since I last blogged. The last post was the day we put Gizmo down. That day still sticks with me, and I imagine it always will. Actually I did write a blog post the following day titled “The Mourning After” but it was just too painful to post. It has been really difficult for me to let go of that, but I think that is a good thing. I still reflect on her life and what joy she brought to us over the years. You would think it would be easier to move past since we have Boris and Oliver in our lives, but that really isn’t the case. It is hard for me to explain. I guess the easiest explanation is that for any parent each child is different. To me it is the same thing even though I am dealing with dogs and not little children. Anyway, the Boys certainly are not a replacement nor were they meant to be. Boris and Oliver are the most interesting little individuals in their own right. But back to why I haven’t blogged in so long……I think I have to admit to myself that actually putting something on the page past my closing dedication to her makes me have to admit to myself that she is gone and that I have ultimately moved on. In my heart, I haven’t and never will. I will never let go. I miss her every day.

Today marks another adventure. We are on a plane bound for Miami, the second flight of three in our journey to Key West in honor of Adam’s 40th birthday. We booked this trip so long ago that we can hardly contain ourselves. It is hard to believe we are FINALLY on our way to some rest and relaxation. I love traveling and, due to changes within my company, have done significantly less of that over the last year, much to my dismay. I think it actually surprises people to hear me say that considering I was doing a fair amount of traveling for quite a while there. But this time it is all for fun. Neither of us has been to Key West before, and this will be my first adventure to Florida. The best thing about this, at least in my opinion, is that I am actually traveling with someone, and that someone happens to be the person I spend the majority of my time with. Somehow it seems that we don’t get to go on these big adventures as much as we used to, but I think the reality of it is that we still do. I have a feeling, because I travel for work now and do so 99% of the time on my own, we still travel together as much as we always have…..it just seems diluted due to my work travel.

It was really hard to leave Boris and Oliver this morning, and not just because it was 4:00am and we were exhausted from having to get up so early. I jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm went off and began the last of the tasks in preparation for our house/dog-sitter to have as comfortable a stay as possible. I didn’t let the Boys out of their kennel right away because it was so early and I figured they would want to both just sleep……or, at the very least, Boris would. Most mornings you almost have to drag his hairy butt out of that kennel in order to get him going. That dog loves to sleep. It is amazing how much Boris and Adam are alike in personality whether or not Adam recognizes or would even admit to. When I finally did open up the kennel door they both very enthusiastically jumped out ready to receive their morning scratches. I was a little surprised to see Boris have such enthusiasm at that ungodly hour of the morning knowing that he got maybe half the amount of sleep he normally gets any given night. Somehow he knew something was up I expect. They both did. They followed us around this morning and got even more excited when Adam and I put on our shoes and the packed suitcases made an appearance downstairs in preparation for our awaiting ride to the airport. I gave them a few smooches each and headed out the door. While I am confident they are in goods hand with our dog-sitter, this is the first time we have ever let anyone other than my Parents take care of our animals for this extended a period of time, so that is hard for me to digest. I know my Parents will treat them in the exact same manner as we do, and I cannot imagine anyone that doesn’t know them the way we do will treat them quite the same. I guess any parent would have the same concern leaving their kid in the hands of another. We are sure it will be fine……as long as he doesn’t let them take advantage and manipulate him…..which they are sure to attempt to do. I am sure we will come home to a story or two about how they tried to rule the house in some comical way. Part of me is hoping for it actually. I will know then that they were happy in our absence.

So we are descending to Miami as I wind this down. I am getting anxious to get to our final destination for some fun and relaxation with Adam. More to come.......