Closure

We waited all week to tell the girls about Skipper.  They had tests in school, so we thought it would be in their best interest to wait (also our best interest since we did not want to tell them).  We decided that we would tell them Friday.  When they got home from school they had friends over.  Dave came home from work later, so it was time.  I just didn't want to do it.  How long could we go on saying that he was in the hospital getting fluids?  Apparantely a long time because they did not even ask about him towards the end of the week.  Come to find out, they thought it was a possibility that he had died so they did not ask because that would confirm the unthinkable.  Of course, it goes without saying that it was quite difficult.  The hard part is that we could not protect them from this.  It happened and there was really nothing we could do about it.  That is how death works.  This might sound weird to some of you, but my meditation coach told me that she saw a white dog in a vision with a fluffy snowball type dog.  He was happy and running around.  I never described Skipper to her.  And I have to believe that the fluffy dog is a friend of Skipper's that is still alive.  She told me that he can still play with dogs and people that are alive.  He exists in spirit. 
Our dear friends from NY came to visit over the weekend.  They got here early Saturday morning and stayed until Saturday night.  It really helped keep the girls occupied and happy.  What sweet friends to drive 4 hours each way within a 24 hour period!  It was a beautiful day. 
Sunday we went to Michael's and bought stuff for Skipper's memorial in our backyard.  We also went to the Annapolis SPCA to look their dogs.  We did not come home with anything.  I think we need more time.  The girls are saying that another puppy will help them get over the loss of Skipper.  I think Dave and I need more time.  We set up everything by a tree in our backyard.  We will dedicate the memorial to him today after school.  Julia and Maggie have poems about Skipper that they would like to read.
Last night we became Hoya fans.  We went to the Georgetown/ Notre Dame basketball game.  The Verizon center is in Chinatown DC so we had some authentic Chinese cuisine at Pho DC.  After dinner we walked over the the arena and watched the game. This was our first college basketball game.  Julia missed the slam dunk because she was peeling peanuts.  That was her disappointment for the night!  Georgetown won and we had a great time!