A Clay Paw

I really don’t want this post to be terribly sad, so bear with me for just a moment.

Several weeks ago, during all the grieving, a dear friend sort of tossed the idea out to me to write a book.  {HA!}

I came home that night, or maybe it was the next night, sat down at my computer and got it all out.  Within two and half-ish hours I had typed 26 pages of a word document.

I got it all out.

All the details.  All the conversations.  All the raw emotions.  And I put it down on paper {the electronic version}.

So I referred back to it tonight for this post.

Here’s the excerpt, talking about the amazing Veterinary Hospital that was caring for Lily in her last days and the precious gift they gave us as we kissed her goodbye:

“They made a claw print for us to bring home and put in the oven, to harden, and then keep for all of forever.  It even has a couple of her hairs in it.  They used a little flower stamp around the border and then stamped her name into the side.  It sits in a plastic bag today, on a shelf in Lily’s room.  Until I find a shadow box frame I like, I am keeping it in this bag.”

Well, today I found the shadow box.  I knew Michael’s would have something, and as Providence would have it, shadow box frames were on sale!  {I may have purchased two because they were BOGO!}

After the kids were down {because all projects happen AFTER the kids go down…for the second or third time!!}, I pulled out the new shadow box and carefully removed Lily’s clay paw from the Ziploc bag.  I used some heavy-duty command strips to adhere the paw to the fabric, because those pretty little pearl-pins that come with the box surely weren’t going to hold this thing into place!

We decided quickly that it needed to hang on the wall near the back door….with a view of Lily’s flower bed.

 

This was going to be the end of my post for tonight.  Until I received a sursy on my front porch today.  I already posted on Instagram and Facebook that Lily’s third set of grandparents sent a precious gift to us today.

The little white bone on the card actually has seeds of a plant in it, so it will be planted in Lily’s flower bed this weekend.

The beautiful little statue already has a home.

 

I am reminded about the loveliness of life.  Even the life of a dog.  Each life touches the lives of so many others.  It’s not just us who grieve Lily’s passing, but also those who knew and loved her.