Remembering Maddie Sue at Barkwells

Happy Labor Day, everyone! It's Mandy, Rosie let me take over the blog for one day so that I could tell you all about my Labor Day weekend. 

My family and I and some friends went to Barkwells, which is near Asheville, to celebrate the life of my puppy sister (by adoption) and friend, Maddie Sue. One year ago yesterday, she went to doggie heaven. It was a really hard time for me. I was so confused about where Maddie had gone and also so sad. I eventually came to understand what had happened after licking a lot of tears off of my mom and dad's faces. They always say to me that they don't know how they would have gotten through it without me and I'm so glad that I could help them since they do so many great things for me too. I would say that we all probably love each other more than ever after going through that together. You see, Maddie wasn't very old. She was only three when she died and no one was expecting it. Mom and Dad took her to the vet and just thought that she had an infection or something, but it ended up that she had to have surgery on something called her gall bladder and then she just never got better after the surgery was over. I didn't even really get a chance to say goodbye to her. So, I guess that's a lot of what this weekend was about for me. 

Barkwells is a very special place to my family. My mom and Maddie had been there once before I was a part of the family and then we all got to go together last Spring. It was probably Maddie's favorite place on Earth because she could chase tennis balls into the lake all day. So, we knew that there was really no better place to say goodbye to her and to celebrate the short time that we had together than there. I'm really glad that my new adopted sister, Ella, got to

have her first time at Barkwells and see why we love it so much. I showed her around to all of mine and Maddie's favorite spots to dig and sniff. That really helped me say goodbye because now I'm the big sister and I have to take care of Ella. The second day that we were there my friend, Mrs. Mosby, came to join us along with her mom and dad. Mrs. Mosby is really more like a cousin than a friend because my mom and dad have known her mom and dad for a long time, so we're all like family. There I was with all of these puppies that I love and I'm so thankful that I had Maddie in my life for as long as I did. She was the bestest big sister to me and helped me to be a better big sister. I love you, big sis, and I think about you every day. I'll see you at the rainbow bridge!