Sandy and Katie Mae

Katie and Sandy were our first babies. I got Katie Mae in 1996 and Judd got Sandy in 1999. They greeted our children when they came home from the hospital. In the last few years, they were getting old and grumpy. Regardless, Conner and Belyn loved them. Every dog is either a "Sandy" or "Katie Mae". Well, Sandy and Katie both died this summer. The kids didn't really notice their absence. About a month with no dogs, Conner said one afternoon, "Where's the dogs?" He said it several times and Belyn started asking too. Judd just told them they were not here. They accepted this answer with no more questions.

Our pets now consist of two fish, two snails, and a frog. One of our snails, "Ivory", died. So, Conner and I flushed it down the toilet. He said, "That snail is dead." I told him yes it was. I don't know what he understands about death.

Today I told him we were going to go the pet store before his speech therapy. He was so excited and said, "We are going to see Sandy and Katie at the pet store?!" I said, "No, sweetie, Sandy and Katie are not at the pet store. They are gone. They just aren't here." He said, "Oh, Sandy and Katie are dead." I was surprised of this understanding. We had never used the word "dead" when the dogs came up in conversation. So I said, "Yes, Sandy and Katie are dead." He said, "Oh." And that was it.

We drove to Odessa and stopped at PetSmart. His face lit up and he said, "We are at the pet store to get a new Sandy and Katie Mae!" It just broke my heart. I told him no that we were just getting a new snail.

So, we bought a snail, frog, and two ghost shrimp. We were checking out and I asked him if we needed anything else. He asked so sweetly, "You need a puppy, Mommy?" I said, "No, I'm okay, I don't need a puppy today." And that was that.