He's home

I brought Nipper home one last time today. Or rather, his ashes. The vet's office provided a nice litter silver urn for him. There's not as much as I thought there would be, but I guess I didn't really know what to expect. And yes, I looked inside. It's morbid, I know, but I also wanted to know how concerned I had to be about what would happen if I had to stop the car suddenly (the cremains were in a bag inside if you must know).

I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with him yet. Right now, the urn is sitting on top of the TV cabinet. Probably most of the ashes will be spread here at home, along the creek, where he liked to spend so much time. Maybe I'll spread a little bit in some of the other places he liked to go -- in the park a few blocks from a home, and maybe at the small campground/lake here in town. Maybe I'll keep some. I'm not sure. I could always have a diamond made from him. That seems kind of weird, though.

I do know I will get another dog, maybe two, I just don't know when. I have to be able to separate missing having a dog from missing Nipper, if that makes any sense. It just wouldn't be fair to get another dog right now, because that dog (or dogs or cat or whatever) will never be NIpper, and that's what I wish I had. But the day will come when I'll want another animal around. Ever since buying this house, which is in a town about 15 miles from where I work, I thought it would have been nice to have another dog so Nipper wouldn't be so lonely during the day, espcecially when Mom wasn't around. But Nipper didn't like too many other dogs, and never would have liked another dog on his "turf." But maybe next time, I will think about a couple of dogs. It's just too soon right now to really think about it.