An Afternoon at the Nail Salon

Berkeley had been asking for over a year to go get her nails done again at the nail salon.  So, because she had such a great 1st grade year and got Student of the Month I took her.  She was so excited and the little ladies in the salon were cracking up at how happy she was because she never stopped smiling the whole time she was there.  She asked what color I was going to get and I told her I'd let her choose mine again (knowing full well it would be something totally out of my comfort zone).  As you can see, she chose some kind of purple/sparkle concoction with some sort of fancy application on top.  Mine was a very flamboyant sparkly blue number that screamed "look at me".  It was a little flashy and over the top, and I knew I was in trouble when I had 18-25 year old girls coming up to me in the grocery store to ooh and awe over my nails.  I felt a little silly being a middle aged, 36 year old with such loud nails.  It kind of made me feel like those older moms who try a little too hard to be hip and young, but I swallowed my pride and thanked them for their compliments and explained that my 7 yr old picked it out.  They all thought she had great taste!  Needless to say, I'm usually a little more conservative, but it was great fun and we'll definitely do it again!  I'll even let her pick my color again!  Oh, the things we do for our kids!

T-Ball

Tom & Mr. Scotty

Campbell

Oliver finally got to play t-ball this year!  Last year he broke his arm a week before it started so he couldn't play. He had a great time and for  the most part we had beautiful weather for practices and games.  We discovered that his friend Addy was on his team and that was the icing on the cake.  Unfortunately, his team name was "Tyneez" which bummed him out cause he wanted them to be called "Skylander Giants".  At any rate, they had a fun season and we learned that he has a pretty strong throwing arm.  Mr. Scotty worked with him and gave him some helpful pointers and equipment to use and it really helped.  On the first practice the kids were each paired up with a team mate and they had to practice throwing the ball back and forth and catching it.  Well, Oliver had had a bit too much practice and perhaps too many helpful tips and ended up throwing the ball to his team mate who missed and got a bloody nose.  We felt SO bad.  It was a total accident.  He didn't mean to do it and he felt awful.  We teased him that he was already a legend in his league for the first blood shed of the season.

Oh, I almost forgot...we played many baseball games after dinner early in the summer.  The 1st time it was my turn up to bat Tom kind of smirked and said "Oh boy, here we go, mom's up".   I asked him if he thought I was a good baseball player and he very gently told me "not so much."  He didn't have much faith that I'd hit the ball since I'm not really a "natural" athlete.  So, he pitched it to me and I hit it out of the park (our yard isn't huge, but it went over the fence into the neighbor's yard.)  The kids went nuts and I screamed "Home run!" as I began to run the bases.  I was perhaps a little too exuberant in my celebratory dance/run around the bases as I made my way to home base and I accidentally tooted twice!  I was pretty embarrassed, but nobody heard me due to all the commotion.  I thought I'd be honest and admit my moment of weakness since Oliver loves anything having to do with flatulence or any noisy bodily function.  When I told them all that I had tooted as I was running the bases due to my excitement they fell on the ground laughing hysterically.  They thought it was the funniest thing they had ever heard!  Oliver wanted me to hit another homer so I would toot again, and Berk wanted me to hit it into the neighbors yard again so she could trespass onto forbidden territory (oh great, hopefully that's not gonna be an issue in the future).  Anyway, I'm not proud of it and, yes, it was embarrassing, but I'm always one who loves to make fun of myself.  Life is too short to take yourself too seriously all the time and besides, I give myself lots of embarrassing material to work with, so why not?

Oliver's PreK Graduation

Addy

Ms. Suzy & Oliver

Ms. Lori & Oliver

Oliver had a great PreK year.  He had the same amazing teachers that Berkeley had and he thrived.  The year flew by, of course and graduation was here before we knew it.  It felt like we were just at Berk's PreK graduation and couldn't believe this was our 2nd baby already graduating too.  So weird.

He had his first little crush on a little girl named Addy.  Her mom came up to me one day and asked if I was Oliver's mom.  She told me that Addy had a huge crush on Oliver and talked about him all the time.  She told her grandma that "He wears these really cool shirts with lots of buttons and he is super fast and chases me at recess and I can never catch him cause he's so fast." Apparently they also played soccer and hula hoops during recess and they had little crushes on each other and I had no idea.  They ended up being on the same t-ball team and they were both super excited about that!  She came over one day and they wanted to eat microwave popcorn while they watched a movie.  When the popcorn was done I brought the bag and 2 little bowls over to the couch and Oliver insisted that they didn't want bowls...they wanted to eat it out of the bag.  So, they sat there, watching the movie, dipping their little hands into the bag of popcorn just like they would have at a real theater.  It was pretty amusing to watch.

Some of the funny "Oliver-isms" from the year include:

One night during bed time prayers he prayed: "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day.  Thank you for our house and our beds.  Thank you for wi-fi..."

As he brought in some flowers that Tom had cut in the yard he came running into the house and exclaimed, "Here's some flowers, Mom!  They were free from the app store!"

One of my favorites was when he learned about how when Ahab was the king of Israel, he prayed to an idol called Baal and it made God angry.  One night Oliver was in bed and he said "Mom, if there was ever a statue of me I would NOT worship it.  I would only worship God.  I might think it was really cool and I would probably like to look at it a little bit, but I definitely wouldn't worship it." 

I can't believe this little character is going to be 6 yrs old and in Kindergarten.  We're proud of you Oliver.  You have such a sweet spirit and a tender heart.  You are a big, strong boy and you will be such a leader in your new school!  Great job...we can't wait to see what the next year holds!

In Loving Memory...

We made the mistake of having Jake cremated & the kids kept asking where he was & I didn't know how to explain cremation, nor did I want to, so I told them that because he was so big, the vet took him to a place where large animals are buried together.  It didn't really seem to satisfy them & they kept wondering why we weren't burying him so I bought a little wooden box that they could paint, decorate & bury just  to give them some closure.  They spent quite a bit of time painting it and each one drew a picture for him and placed it in the box.  Berkeley also made him a nice beaded necklace.  I asked each one of them to write a note to Jake letting him know what he meant to them.  This is what they wrote verbatim:

Dear Jake,

You were so nice and you were so soft.  You were so cute like Sterling.  I hope to see you in heaven when I die.  Whenever somebody would knock on the door, you would just be relaxed and not bark.  I miss you.

Love,

Berkeley

Dear Jake,

I liked you as a dog and I hope I’ll see you in heaven.  I love you.  I miss you and I love you so much.  I liked when I used to pet you and sit by you.  I hope you are gonna feel better when we see you in heaven.  I miss you Jake and I really, really love you.

Love,

Oliver

Dear Jatey,

I miss Jatey (Jakey) and I love him and I kiss him and pet him and hug him.  I really want him to be better.  I really like him.  I love you.

Love,

Finley

Dear Jake,

You were a great member of the family and we will miss you very much.

Cheers,

Tom

Dear Jakers,

I loved cuddling with you.  You had the biggest paws and the softest ears.  Thank you for all the loves, cuddles and special memories you gave us over the years.  You were so kind.  I will miss you very much.

I love you,

Lisa

Dear Jake,

You were my very best friend.  I miss you so much, but I’m glad you are not hurting anymore.  Thank you for being so awesome.  It won’t be the same without you buddy.  I love you.

Love,

Sterling

So, each one of us read what we wrote and folded our note & placed it in his box.  Each of the kids had a heart shaped dog treat and placed  that in there as well since Jake loved his treats.  Berkeley was convinced he'd come down from heaven and dig up the box to get the treats!  Knowing Jake, I wouldn't put it past him!

I choked my way through a special poem called "The Rainbow Bridge"

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.  There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.  There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor.  Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.  The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.  His bright eyes are intent.  His eager body quivers.  Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.  The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

-Author Unknown 

Oliver said a closing prayer and then the kids helped bury the box.  I think it helped...they haven't asked again where he is.  They have asked if mom was going to cry every time she passed his special resting place.  Probably, but it'll be in secret so little eyes can't see. 

About a week after he died Finley got up in the morning and had to go potty.  She always sleeps through the night so she goes tons of potty in the morning...as she was going and going and going she looked up at me with sad little eyes and said "Member Jatey?"  I said "Yes, Fin, I remember Jakey.  He was a nice puppy, wasn't he?"  She nodded her head yes, looked down at her leg and said, "Oh, what's this on my leg?"  She had already moved on in the conversation.  She saw my mom a couple days later and wanted to be picked up.  My mom picked her up and Fin said "Jatey died".  My mom said "I know, he was a good dog."  So, maybe I won't ALWAYS be so good at hiding my tears, but I'll do my best.

Rest In Peace

Jake Winslow

Goodbye Jakey Boy

Happiness is a warm puppy.  -Charles M. Schulz

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.  -Will Rogers

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.  -W.H. Auden

It's just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn't it?  It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal.  -John Grogan

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.  -Anatole France

 

Dogs' lives are too short.  Their only fault, really.  -Agnes Sligh Turnbull

Jake came to live with us about 6 years ago in November of 2007.  A girl whose parents gave him to her as a gift to help her heal after she was in a horrific accident went off to school back East and they decided to find him a new home.  So, we agreed to take him for a weekend just to test him out around our 2 other dogs and small kids.  He did great and they all got along famously so we decided to bring him into our family.  Oliver was only 12 weeks old and Berkeley had just turned 2.  He was a massive, attention starved dog with stinky farts and horrible table manners.  We thought he'd be a good friend and distraction for Sterling who had recently lost her best dog friend and cousin, Payton.  They became fast friends.  They laid on the couch together, went to the park together and of course went to the office together where everyone promptly fell in love with him.

On Jake’s AKC papers, his official name was Jake Pierce II.  His dad was Buckingham Blaze and his mom was Zeiger Von Blum.  We decided to call him Jake Winslow instead.  It just fit.  We had tons of nick names for him though.  Some of which include:  Mr. Jake, Big Jake, Jakers, Jakey Boy, Jakey Baby, Gertie (short for Galloping Gertie cause when he used to be able to run he would thunder past us), and, one of my favorites, Walter.

Jake was a total love and would have been a lap dog had he managed to get away with it.  He was the kindest, sweetest dog I think I have ever known.  He eventually went to live full time with Jerry when we had our 3^rd baby and began building our house.  We sold the house we were in at the time and lived someplace where 2 big dogs and 3 kids wouldn’t really fit.  So, he went to live at “The Ritz” with Jerry.  And, boy, what a life he had.  He had his own Restoration Hardware chaise that he slumbered on every night.  Each evening around 8 pm he’d begin bark to let Jerry know he was ready for his “cuddle time”.  Jer would sit on the couch to accommodate him and Jake would rest his massive head on Jer’s lap and cover Jer’s hand with his enormous paw.  He was so cuddly and warm and he was a great dog to curl up with on a cold winter night.

On Monday, July 22, 2013, we had to say goodbye to our beloved boy.  He got extremely sick the previous Friday and wouldn’t eat or drink the whole weekend.  Anybody who knows Jake knows that he lives for food so we knew something was seriously wrong.  He was on medication for arthritis and we think his liver failed.  He was so weak by Monday, that he could barely even stand long enough to go to the bathroom.  He just laid shaking in his bed with the saddest eyes.  So, we made the heart wrenching decision to say good bye.  He was letting us know it was time.  He was ready.

I took the kids over to him that morning to say goodbye.  I didn’t want to tell them we were having him “put to sleep” because they have no concept of what that means.  I got them in the car and told them that Jake was really sick and probably not going to make it much longer, so we were going over to Jerry’s house to give him hugs and kisses and loves.  We talked to him and loved on him for a while and then they went to their Grandma’s house right before his appointment.  We took him in at 10:30 with tears streaming down our faces.  We got him comfortable on the floor, gave him tons of kisses and whispered how much we loved him and how great of a dog he was.  He laid his head down for the last time in Jerry’s lap, I wrapped my arms around his body and Tom laid his hand on his chest and we let him go.  It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  He was gone in about 20 seconds and he finally looked so peaceful and free of pain.  I felt relieved for him, but heartsick for us.

Jake, you have no idea how much we miss you buddy.  Although we are relieved for you that you are free of pain, there is a huge hole in our family.  The grief is raw.  The kids were so sad when we told them you died.  Telling them was horrendous.  Oliver immediately started to sob.  He loved you so much.  You were his favorite out of all the dogs.  He used to love sitting next to you on the couch with his arm around your neck while he watched TV.  Berkeley just stood there silently trying not to cry and looking like she was in shock.  Finley cried, not because she really understood that she'd never see her "Jatey (Jakey) Baby", but because Oliver was crying and so upset.  We all knew it was coming and that it was inevitable, but that doesn’t make saying goodbye any less painful.  This fall when school starts, it’s going to be really strange when you are not out at the bus stop like you’ve been every morning for the past 2 years.  That is going to take some getting used to.  Bed time prayers are especially hard.  We still pray for you every night that you’re happy in heaven and enjoying your new legs.  We ask Jesus to give you big hugs and kisses for us and to let you know that we miss you and love you.  We keep talking about how you must be having so much fun running on strong, healthy legs, eating huge steak dinners and then taking long, lazy naps in the warm sun up there.  Only to get up and do it all again the next day! Somehow that thought makes the ache of missing you lessen just a bit.

Sterling misses you too.  So much.  She is 10 and slowing down as well.  She has lost 2 best friends now and I hurt for her.  She seems pretty sad and lost without you puppy.  I can’t even fathom having to say goodbye to her too someday.  But, at least she’ll have 2 great buddies to meet up with in heaven.  You were a wonderful companion to her.  Watching the two of you sleep on the couch was so comforting.  Our two sweet weims cuddled up together, snoring.  You not only helped heal the girl who originally had you, you healed Sterling after the loss of her first best friend.  Thank you for that Jake.

So sweet Jakers, thank you for all the love and cuddles over the years.  Thank you for all the special memories and funny stories we have of you.  Thank you for clearing the table and the floor and even for the bad breath and stinky farts.  Thank you for all the joy and pure sweetness that was your life.  We love you big guy.

Jake Winslow Potts-Sailer
July 1, 2001-July 22, 2013

                                                  

A Letter to Jake

                                                                                                                         

July 1, 2013

Dear Jake,

You are 12 years old today.  As much as I don’t want to think about it or face it, it is most likely the last birthday we will celebrate with you.  Our days with you are numbered.  You no longer get off the couch to get a treat that has landed just short of your reach.  A month ago on a hot day you wore yourself out in the yard and were trying to make your way up the side of the house in order to avoid going up the porch stairs and you got stuck in the gravel and couldn’t get up.  Luckily our neighbor saw you struggling and he jumped over the fence to help.  Between the 2 of us, we carried you the rest of the way into the house.  His wife went inside crying because she couldn’t watch it.  I struggled not to burst into tears in front of Mr. Al and the kids, but the awful truth glares at me whenever I see you fall or slip or struggle.  As much as I want to close my eyes and not face reality, we don’t have long with you Mr. Jake.

And so, I want to write a letter to you to thank you.   Thank you for being such a great dog.  Thank you for being such a gentle giant with our kids.  Thank you for having a great big bear of a neck for me to hug when I need a great big bear hug.  Thank you for cuddling with me on the couch and resting your enormous head in my lap with your monstrous paw on top of my hand.  Thank you for letting me pet your velvet, ‘dumbo’ ears.  You have the best ears Jakey Boy.  Thank you for letting me give you kisses every time I walk by you on the couch.  I must have given you thousands of kisses in the past year.  Maybe even a million.  I can’t resist, do you know how handsome you are?

Thank you for coming into our family.  You were 6 years old when we had the opportunity to bring you home.  I wasn’t sure how you would fit in with a 2 yr old, a 12 week old and 2 other dogs.  It was a non-issue.  You let the kids tug on you and you let Ridley bite your ankles.  You never once got mad at her even though you were attacked by a small dog when you were younger.  Whenever she would nip at your ankles you would just shake her off and occasionally give a tremendous bark.  Being the drama queen that she is, she’d screech in fear and run away shaking, but you never once hurt her.  Or anyone for that matter, even though you are a pretty intimidating figure! 

Thank you for being a best friend to Sterling.  She lost her best friend in the whole world before you came to live with us and she was pretty sad.  I didn’t think anyone could ever replace her best friend, but you know what, sweet Jake?  You did.  It was fun to watch the two of you get acquainted.  You, who are so laid back and nonchalant about everything, and Sterling who is wired tight as a drum and oh so excitable.  Even still, at 10 years old, she is such a puppy around you at times.   When you two have been separated for a few hours she is so incredibly happy to see you.  She does just what she did with her cousin Payton all the those years ago…she runs full blast at you , crashes into you and nibbles away on your ears and neck.  And you, always a perfect gentleman, sit there stoically and let her.

You went to the vet last week.  We wanted to know how much longer we should let you go.  You’ve been so loyal and loving and we don’t want to be selfish in holding onto you if you are in huge amounts of pain. But we can’t make that decision on our own.  We need someone to make it for us. I kept saying, “Just one more summer, just one more summer.  We’ve got to have him for one more summer.”   The Dr. told us that you could go through the summer.  Right now I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world.  She said that your legs will get worse in the winter of course and we’ll just take it day by day, month by month and see how you do.  Your eyes are getting cloudy and it’s painful to watch you struggle through the horrendous ache of arthritis.  The hardest part about it is, you never complain.  You are strong and brave and quiet, which makes it so very hard to know how long to keep you going.  We don’t want you to suffer buddy.  You deserve to go with the same dignity, love and grace that you have shown your whole life.  It’s just such an impossible decision.  How can we let you go?

For a long time we commented on how lucky you were to get a new life…to come and live with us and at Jerry’s house at “The Ritz”.  I never thought it was possible to really, truly fall head over heals in love with a dog that we didn’t bring home as a brand new puppy.  It took a little while, but you have proven me 100% wrong.  I adore you Jakers.  You weren’t the lucky one, we were.  So, you know what?  I am going to savor this last summer with you.  I am going to give you a thousand more kisses every day.  I am going to savor the feel of those velveteen ears and the weight of that humongous head lying on my lap.  I am going to savor the sweet scent of your paws and the smell of your hot, albeit stinky, breath. I am going to whisper every time I kiss you that you are a good boy and that we love you so much.  Just wanted you to know…we treasure you Jake.  You are a gift, sweet puppy.