Second year anniversary of our Pomeranian Toby’s passing: A journey of FIRE (financial independence retire early) and of life…
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| Toby, our Pomeranian baby |
Anonymous: “A companion is gone, but the memory lives on…”
It is hard to fathom how fast time flies. It has been over 2 years since we said our final goodbyes to our baby, our sweet, loyal Pomeranian Toby. He was without a doubt, our absolute joy.
As my wife and I were traveling to the Great American Midwest state of Michigan during the month of March, I had almost forgotten the day our dog crossed over the rainbow bridge. Had it not been my wife mentioning it, I may have missed it.
Humans, I think, are really selfish creatures. We forget, both the good and the bad memories over time, and I think this was exactly what this particular selfish human was doing that day…
I guess it’s good that we can move on from traumatic experiences over time, because otherwise, we will suffer for eternity thinking back and constantly rehashing those same experiences. Why do we remember the bad memories so much better than good ones…
Lucky for most of us, time does heal things, and we’re grateful we have moved on from the traumatic experience of sending away our baby to dog heaven. As time went along, like it always does whether we want it to or not, we have in time, started our own healing process…
Gone are the days of waking up in the middle of the night thinking our dog wanted to go potty, or thinking our dog was casually walking into our room, making that unmistakable prancing footstep sound he makes when walking on any hard surface. Also gone are the times we would constantly talk about the last few months prior to his passing, when we knew he was in pain yet not showing it, or his inability to eat foods he used to gulp down in a flash.
The first month after his passing, it was so hard to get used to traveling without him. On our way to Tupper Lake (NY), we would constantly look over our shoulders to see if he was still resting on the backseat on our car, forgetting he was no longer there. When we were unpacking our belongings at the AirBnB for our month long stay, we would wonder where our dog was, again forgetting he was no longer with us.
Those tough moments would eventually get better, but it took roughly 6 months for us to really start to feel we can live without our baby. The 10 week long cross country road trip to the West Coast during the winter of 2022 really helped the healing process, and we felt we were closing one chapter of our lives and starting something new.
We bonded again with each other, at a more deeper level, not as a pet parent, but as a couple again, free to live and travel as we felt like. We were no longer bound by limitations of traveling with a dog, needing to stay at AirBnB (or something similar like Vrbo) to save money.
That 10 week long trip reminded us of the times prior to getting our dog, when we felt carefree and responsibility free. Thinking back, being a pet parent was no easy task. As much as we loved our dog, there were the daily walks, the vet visits, and constantly worrying about his health as he got older.
We would adopt our baby again in a heartbeat if we were to do it all over again, but we are certainly going to enjoy our newfound freedom living without our dog. As of right now, we don’t have any plans to adopt another dog. We’re happy with where we are right now, but we also reserve the right to change our minds if something changes, as we also know life always changes. We’ll see…
Looking back at our second year of our life living without our baby, we can proudly say we’ve enjoyed our lives to the fullest. We didn’t want to look back, regretting what could’ve been, or how we could’ve done things differently. We know we loved our dog and we we know we spent our time together as much as we could since our early retirement in 2020.
Toby got to travel to places most dogs would dream about, and more importantly, we stuck together through the good and the bad like a good pack would. For that, we have no regrets.
Our second year of living without our Toby was memorable as we took several trips. We got to forgo AirBnB for hotels for the most part of the year, using primarily Choice Hotels and Hilton Hotels, as well as few others. Some of the highlights of our travels include:
- Cape May and Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania and upstate New York
- 8 week long road trip to the American South including North/South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi
Traveling and experiencing new stimuli is something I never get enough of even after doing it for the past 3+ years after early retirement. While the first two years were done with our baby Toby, we have made every effort to live our lives fully without him since his passing.
We still miss him and we still talk about him and all his quirky behaviors! Our lives were certainly fulfilling with him, but we have done our best to go on, because that’s what he would’ve wanted for us.
We will continue to travel as we are freer than ever, choosing to stay at hotels when appropriate but still using AirBnB’s when necessary to save money. As I look back at his two year anniversary, I can’t help but thank that little bugger for all the joy he has given us as pet parents. We will never forget that cute little fur ball!
Please keep up with us as we continue our journey of life and FIRE (financial independence retire early). Thank you for reading and supporting this blog.
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
