The Satterfield's are sad.

The month of April was a tough one for the Satterfield's; we had to say goodbye to the best doggie we know.  Tuscany, was one of those rare dogs that seemed to make friends wherever she went.  And I mean real friends!   When I got her in March 2002, she was the cute fluff ball that went around the neighborhood.  She immediately charmed the socks off of everyone she met. 

In fact, as she aged she learned to sit, look pretty and smile at people and they would just come up to her and love on her.  She was hilarious!  Beyond that Tuscany went everywhere with me from the day I got her.  She always had a permanent place in the back of whatever car I was driving.  Her bowl, an extra leash and dog food were always loaded into the car.  Most every family vacation, road trip or visit Tuscany was there. 

She was my first child and I was granted the amazing pleasure of being her mom.  She always had a kiss for me and I swear she helped me land at least two or three clients when she was in the office with me.  She loved to swim, to eat anything in site and to make people smile.  She was a gift. 

Tuscany loved being a big sister to JD.  From the moment I was pregnant her life changed, but she was thrilled.  She was by my side my entire pregnancy--we even got a car ramp because she could not jump and I was unable to lift her in and out of the back the car when we went to work. 

When JD came home there was no worry about how Tusc would respond--we knew she loved him and she did.  She would lay by his crib and come get us anytime he cried.  She went from sleeping by my side to sleeping outside of his door so she could alert us to anything happening.  She was the great protector of our little man and always knew how to make it better for him.

It was amazing to watch Tuscany adjust to JD as he would crawl or learn to pull her hair; she just allowed him to figure it out and never got upset.  His first word was Dog and he quickly learned to say Tusc.  Both words came with huge smiles.

The loss of Tuscany is much more difficult than I could have ever imagined.  Every morning I want to smell her stinky breath, at night she is not there to watch over JD; things are just out of sorts.  JD isn't sleeping as well, Kevin and I are up at least once or twice in the night to check on him.  Things just don't feel right.

My hope is that JD will always know how much Tuscany was a part of our family and how much she loved him.  My hope is JD learned how to love from Tuscany--that he learned that endless patience is a gift, that happiness is contagious and the more you give kisses the more love you receive. 

Tuscany we love you, we miss you and mostly we thank you for being the best dog.