Today marks one year since Honey died. If you followed this blog, you know she was my friend and comfort through the ups and downs of two years of Peace Corps service in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, Africa. You'll also know that she died due to complications from delivering Cricket, who celebrated her first birthday two days ago.
At first I expected Cricket to be just like Honey. I planned on her being the same color, build, and size. I wanted exactly the same cleverness, manners, and voice. Instead, Cricket is her own dog. One obvious difference is that Cricket's ears have not stood up like a typical Basenji's. For the longest time I told myself they would stand as she grew up, but she has not grown in months. She is in fact shorter than Honey was. Between her smaller size and floppy ears, Cricket will always look like a puppy to me.
When Honey first died, I remember thinking that I would eventually be able to think of her and smile at our happy memories. However, thinking of Honey now is still painful. It had been a while since I had looked through my pictures of her, so making this slideshow helped me focus on the happy times.
Those of you who know me, read this blog, and/or view my facebook profile have seen most of these pictures before. This was one of the harder things about making the slideshow: I have no new pictures (or memories) of Honey from the last year. And I will never have more pictures than these already cherished shots.
I know this is a little late, but I just read this and thought I would comment. I can empathize with you. I remember when I was little we had a miniature Schnauzer named Mr. Montgomery (Monty for short). He was kind of a best friend for me growing up. When we moved to my Grandma and Grandpa Mazan's after my parent's divorce, Monty came with us. Unfortunately, the dog that my grandparent's owned was extremely territorial and was actually fighting with Monty. Eventually, my mom decided to give him to another family so that he would not be hurt anymore. I still think about him on occasion and I have seen pictures of him in family albums. It is hard when you lose a pet that you love. I wish you my sincere condolences and empathy. I hope that, while Cricket has her own personality and traits, you will come to love her as you did Honey. Each dog is different and worth the love and care that we can provide. May your memory of Honey be ever clear, even if painful at times, and your time spent with Cricket filled with love and happiness.
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