One year anniversary of our Pomeranian Toby’s passing: Remembering our little fur ball and living a year without him…

 

Toby at Ocean City, MD (October 2020)

Charles de Gaulle:  “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

It has been one year since we said our final goodbyes to our beautiful Pomeranian dog Toby.  As difficult as that month was, finally deciding to let him go, we learned that time does heal things.  We also learned that loved ones may be gone, but they’re never forgotten.

Not a day goes by when we don’t think about our little fur ball.  We miss his quirky moves he used to do to get our attention, like when he wanted a treat, or when he wanted to sleep with his mommy.  We miss those times when he would stare at us, standing in front of our television, demanding to be fed.  We miss him rolling his favorite toy, a treat filled ball, that would keep him occupied for hours.  

We are so grateful and lucky that we took so many photos and videos of him ever since we retired in August 2020, visiting new places together, as a tightly knit pack.  We look back at those same photos and videos reminiscing about our times together.

Toby around 2019

Toby acting busy 2019

Living the life of a lazy dog!

Toby with his toy

Toby taking up the entire bed like a king

Toby has brought so much joy and happiness to our lives ever since we brought him home in July 2007.  Words cannot describe how happy we were living day after day with our loyal, energetic fur ball.  As tough as last few months were for us and for Toby due to his failing health, we look back at his entire life as a precious gift to us…

The past year, we couldn’t help but occasionally look back at his life, starting out as a curious, super energetic young pup, then, in a blink of an eye, growing old and frail.  We are very grateful and honored to have had Toby as our dog, as he had given us so much:  companionship, love, at times comedy, and most important of all, so many great memories…

Like I always say, life is just a series of memories, good and bad, that remain with us until we pass on.  It’s always better to have memories (both good and bad), than to not have any meaningful memories.  What good is living if we’re living like robots without something to reminisce about?  It might as well not be living in that case…

Toby when he was around 8-9 years old 

One of the greatest contributions of Toby to our family was instilling in us the love of nature and love of walks/hikes.  As all dog owners know, dogs will make you walk, come rain or shine, through snowstorms and thunderstorms!

I remember those times when we got over 12 inches of snow on certain winters living in Pennsylvania.  I had to make a potty area for him to do his business, meaning I had to shovel our backyard for our little prince!  On work days, shoveling for our spoiled dog was definitely not fun, but it had to be done, regardless…

Toby in Ocean City (2020)

Ocean City, 2020

Atlantic Beach, NC (2020)

We are living our lives these days fully embracing that gift from Toby.  Since his passing, we’ve done similar things as if he was still with us.  We still rented a month long (or longer) stays at AirBnB, went on hikes, and explored new places.

Month of April last year was undoubtedly the toughest month, as that was the first month of living without him.  It was difficult to pack up our stuff, without taking him and his belongings, like his bed, his baby wipes, treats, foods, and his favorite toys.  

He left such an indelible mark on our lives after spending 15 years together.  It was difficult going on hikes that first month without him, but what was perhaps the most difficult was to not have him sleep next to me.  

We both remember his quirky behavior of scratching the bed then circling multiple times to settle in before sleeping.  We also remember how he used to fall asleep on a dime, as if a switch had been turned off.  

I used to catch him awake in the morning, sitting down on the corner of my bed very alert, patiently waiting for me to wake up.  I can tell he didn’t want to wake me up, and I thought that was just so good of him!  It’s these and many other mannerisms that we’ll always remember and cherish…

One of my favorite photos of Toby (2020)

Toby in Ocean City (2020)

Things did get easier after the first month.  We certainly dined out more, and not having Toby allowed us to rekindle our relationship with culture once more, like arts and music.  We also visited many arboretums and gardens with my parents more, as these places are usually off limits to dogs.

I guess it was another gift from Toby, his way of letting us go on with our lives.  We are definitely trying…

In conclusion:

We will never forget our awesome first dog.  He was such a gentle, loving, funny, and a beautiful dog.  Our lives were enriched by him in more ways than words can describe…

Just looking into his eyes, bonding as a human being and a canine, was the type of thing we would always remember.  It was things like that, along with tons of others, that just brought so much joy into our lives…

Thank you Toby for giving us so much, and thank you bud for living with us those wonderful 15 years.  You will live on in our memories and you will never be forgotten.

Thank you all for reading,

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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