Sad Day for the Chilean Berryhills

Remember Delilah?  You know, the cute bulldog that we've been patiently waiting for for 2 months?  Well, this was the week.  Joe called the breeder and left a message, asking when we could pick her up.  Everything was ready.  We had taken the kids to pick out dog beds, toys, chicken wire for our pool gate so she couldn't squeeze through...We were ready.

I was making dinner on Tuesday night when Joe called and immediately told me I needed to find a place where I could talk.  "Make sure the kids aren't around."  Do you know what kind of task he was asking of me?  It was 5:45pm.  I can't even go use the restroom alone at this time of day.  Thankfully Kate had just put on a little "Party Rock" and the kids were having a dance party in the office.  

I escaped to the backyard.

"What is it?"  I knew this couldn't be good.

"Delilah died 2 days ago."  What?!!!!!!!  Apparently after the puppies all got their vaccinations, they got some time of gastritis and all but one of them were lost.   I was sick.  I knew Kate would be beyond crushed.  She has done 2 presentations at school about her bulldog and it's all she talks about with our family and friends.  All of the neighbor kids keep saying, "So, make sure you tell us when you bring her home!"  

I couldn't do it that night.  She was too happy and I wanted her to have a good night sleep.  So, the next night, Joe stayed late at work to talk with a coworker who used to breed bulldogs to figure out what we should do.  I feel as though our life could EASILY be a sitcom.  After I said prayers with the kids, I put Luke down, and then came back to talk to Kate and Jake.  We were sitting on Kate's bed when I said, "I have to talk to you guys about something."  This is what unfolded next:

Kate (to my left with a very distressed look):  "Delilah can't come to our house."

Jake (to my right in a panicky voice):  "You aren't going to help me write my story?!"

Me:  "It is about Delilah...She got really sick this last week and-"

Kate (falls to the bed and starts sobbing):  "What? Why?!  She died??!!!"  (My sweet girl kept sobbing.)

Jake (with a smile; putting his cute, little 5 year old hand on my arm and patting it):

"It's OK!!! We still have Luke!"  

And there you have it.  Everything will be fine.  We still have Luke.  He's kind of like a dog...I have seen him try to lick one of our flip flops before (that was a gross day) and as I've been reading up on how to train puppies, it seems oddly similar to children.  I LOVE Jake.  I love his commentary.  He says just what we need when we need it.  I LOVE Kate.  I love her extremely tender, gentle heart.  We were all sad about losing Delilah, but I knew it crushed her the most.  After a few nights of tears and packing up the supplies for now, she is doing much better--with the promise that we'll find another Delilah really soon.