Today we join a very special blog hop,
hosted by the very special Sugar the Golden Retriever, on a very special day.
You see, today is the First Anniversary of the {This Moment} See Beautiful Blog Hop.
However, it’s my first time participating and I was unprepared.
I’d only just heard of it a couple weeks ago, and for some reason
had it in my mind that it was on a different day.
Her name is no coincidence.
She is one of the kindest, most encouraging souls
I’ve encountered in my very short time blogging.
Full of Golden Sweetness… leaving her Golden Woofs everywhere she goes.
So my (late) post today is in honor of sweetness…
And I am choosing to honor our LittleBear.
~ LittleBear ~
You entered our lives on Valentines Day 2004.
As we drove home from the shelter that day,
we didn’t know our lives were changing forever.
We did not realize the impact your presence would have,
the lessons you would teach us,
nor the blessing your memory would leave.
You left our lives on October 20th, 2012…
Eight years with you was not enough.
I’ve had many dogs over the course of my life,
but you were different than the others
in a way no words can express.
The sweetness within you
changed who we were as people.
We can never thank you for being
the best friend my husband never knew he needed,
the mirror my anxious eyes could look in
and knew you understood.
You taught us love, patience, kindness, forgiveness…
You taught us to never give up on each other…
You were a sweet shining light in our darkest hours…
You are the reason that I look at every dog differently now…
That I look at my husband, your daddy, differently now…
That I look at life differently now.
I think everyone who loves dogs
eventually has that “once in a lifetime dog”…
You were ours.
There’s a plant that grows near where we buried you.
This plant was there before, its green leaves are nothing new.
But this spring, for the first time ever…
It offered one white flower in bloom.
It had never bloomed before…
Nor has it bloomed since.
I know that bloom was just for you.
Thank you for visiting us today. Be sure to visit our host Sugar the Golden Retriever,
as she is having a giveaway in honor of the {This Moment} See Beautiful First Year Anniversary.
That was so incredibly beautiful. Little Bear sure made a beautiful impact in this world, in your world. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Goose
Thank you Goose. Yes, he had a huge impact on our lives. More than we could’ve ever expected.
Those were beautiful words you had today! 🙂 Some dogs come into our lives and really change us for the better, and it sounds like he was one of those dogs for you.
Thank you… Yes, he definitely was. My husband never knew he was a dog person until LittleBear. They were amazingly close… changed my husband’s personality in a lot of ways.
It’s so strange how nature seems to respond to our spirits sometimes. That peony is perfectly beautiful. Perhaps next year it will have even more blooms for you. I know what you mean about how all of our dogs touch our hearts but some just become especially close.
Yes, sometimes the universe seems to know exactly how to bring certain beings together that need each other. A peony! Thank you… I didn’t know. Truthfully, I know very little about plants/flowers. We didn’t plant it, it was here before we moved here. But it had truly never bloomed before.
Very beautiful 🙂
Thank you Ann!
Lots of Golden Thanks for your sweet kind words. Golden Appreciate it and Golden Happy you participated. There’s a good reason why Little Bear entered your life on Valentine’s Day. Precious words and Little Bear will be remembered forever. Such a symbolism of that white flower. Golden Thanks for sharing this beautiful story/poem and tribute to your Little Bear. Happy Seeing Beauty. Golden LOVE. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
You’re very welcome, Sugar. I’m glad I participated too, even if it meant shedding a whole lot of tears. They were good tears. Thank you for hosting and for encouraging me to participate, even at the last minute.
What a beautiful post…made my mom cry. She says that every pet has a different place in her heart and she loves us all but some bring up different feelings than others and this reminded her of her first dog that passed almost 10 yrs ago. Sometimes I hate that dog because mom can’t forget about her and how special she was but I know that my sister and I are also special in our own ways. Little Bear was adorable!
Thank you… I definitely shed many tears writing it. When I was young, Pixie was “that dog”. I thought no one could ever fill her paws. Years later, when LittleBear came along… he looked so much like her that it was uncanny… and he seemed to carry her same sweet spirit. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but looking at him, I often found myself wondering if Pixie was in there somewhere.
Don’t worry, your mom loves you more than you could ever imagine. The dog your mom can’t forget about also inspires her love for you. Always remember that. ♥
We think you did Great for the First Time at the See Beautiful hop.
Little Bear sure was sweet and I am sure he is at the Rainbow Bridge having fun.
The White flower lets you know he hasn’t forgotten your love.
xo Cinnamon
Thank you Cinnamon! We try to remember that he is still with us in so many ways, and in other ways, watching us from the Rainbow Bridge. His passing was somewhat sudden, so it was even more difficult at the time. We are still healing, but every day it gets a little easier. We definitely hope he never forgets our love, as we’ll definitely never forget his.