The time is 4:00 am on Saturday Febuary, 7 2009. The alarm rings and I get out of bed. My first stop is to make a pot of coffee and to let Peanut out of his cage to go outside and use the bathroom. This is a daily ritual for my wife Dawn. After walking Peanut she always gets her coffee and then walks our older dog Dakota. Peanut always stays on the top step of the deck and waits for Dawn and Dakota to re-enter the gate. On this morning he decides to run out the gate and play a little peek-a-boo w/mom around the neighbors houses. This is not unusual for him to get out and expel some energy before coming back
to the house within minutes.
On this morning, my son was getting ready to go to work w/ his mom to work on a school project. After calling to Peanut for several minutes he did not come back.
At 5:30 am my wife wakes me to let me know about Peanut being out and to listen for him at the door. At 5:40 am she and my son leave to go to her job. Moments later the phone rings, so I get out of bed to answer. It is my wife, and in her voice I hear a sadness along w/my son crying in the background as she says, “Bob, Peanut is on the highway and has been hit by a car.”
I immedietly got dressed to drive to the front of the neighborhood. My wife and son were in her truck and I yelled,” Where is he?” my wife points and my heart starts pounding. There he was, the dog that always put a smile on everyone’s face even if he was bad because he was so beautiful. I told my wife to bring my son home and I would take care of it. With tears in my eyes I gently pick him up from out of the road and wrapped him in a drop cloth.
When I arrived back at the house my whole family is now mourning the death of our precious Peanut.
Not having been in this situation before I make a phone call to get advice on proceeding w/possibly a pet cemetary or cremation.
The decision was made to have him cremated by my wife and I.
The crying and the sadness continues as of today. Monday Febuary 9, 2009. No more Peanut in our bed at night, no more Peanut to walk in the morning and jump all over you when you get home, no more yelping to get your attention. Even my dog Dakota is acting like I have never seen him before, the sadness, the look in his eyes.
Many thoughts have gone through my head since that day. I know it was an accident but the person who hit him could have stopped. His tags with our phone numbers and a phone call from someone else would have made this esier. To the people out there that hit an animal and continue to go about your daily lives, SHAME ON YOU. You do not realize the hurt you can cause just by not stopping and maybe having the heart to look for information on the pet. My heart is broken and I can’t stop thinking about our Peanut, hoping that this was a nightmare and I will wake up to see him again, making my wife and children smile.
To Peanut, we love and miss you so much already, you were a joy in our lives and will never be forgotten.
To everyone who has ever lost a pet for whatever reason, you have my sympathy. I now know what it’s like to miss something you take for granted as just being a pet.
I LOVE YOU PEANUT.
Always in our hearts,
| ♥Peanut♥ |
| Bob/Dawn Reidhaar |