This has been a very tough week on our family. Our Bernese Mountain Dog, Greta, after a tough week of heart failure and only an estimated couple weeks left of life was put to sleep yesterday. We adopted her when she was 2 years old and for the last 10 years she has been my shadow. Constantly by my side through all the good times and the bad, helping me raise and care for 3 babies, and always looking after all of us. We are so lucky to have had her in our life for the length that we did. Most Bernese Mountain Dogs do not live longer than 8 years and she made it to almost 12! She was the most loving, loyal, faithful dog with an almost human-like personality. She was so in touch with all of us and if one of us were sad or ill, she laid by our side until we recovered. This week, we had to return the favor to her and it was tough. She was our rock and now she is no longer with us.
It’s ironic that she left us now as we were really stumped as to what we were going to do with her once we moved to Dubai. We knew taking her would be extremely risky and, honestly, not worth it as she very likely wouldn’t have survived the stress of the journey. And then, the Dubai heat! We had made arrangements for our dear friend and caretaker to live in our home with her. We would come back and visit as often as we could. He grew just as attached to Greta as we all did. He was captured by her loving manners and was with us in the end when we said good-bye.
Saying farewell to her was not the only challenge. Telling our kids, on their last day of school, was also a huge challenge. Their reactions were all very different. Our 7 year old daughter burst into tears right away while our 9 year old son was silent all day until bedtime when he tried desperately to fight back hysterical tears. Greta always helped me with bedtime. We’d clean up the kitchen, round up the kids, go through bedtime duties like teeth brushing or bath and then up to their bedrooms for books. I realized that none of our kids have had a life without our sweet Greta so it is going to take some getting used to.
Our 4 year old daughter who had no reaction initially asked where Greta was 3 hours later once we were at home. We were all stunned and silently waiting for her to register what we had told her earlier. She did. She followed up with, “Is Greta dead? Do we now only have 2 dogs? Is Greta in heaven?” then she cried.
What a sad week it has been in the Clements’ home. We will miss you, pretty girl. R.I.P.
