Sadness!

On Friday our family was getting together for our "Annual Peacock Family Pumpkin Carving Challenge". It's a day that we look forward to for the entire year.  We always have pizza, halloween snacks, and carve pumpkins together at my parents house.  We were supposed to arrive at my parents at 6:00 p.m. but for whatever reason it took us FOREVER to get to my parents.  We left our house at 5:30 and normally takes us 20 minutes to get to their house. This night it took us 50 minutes. When we arrived at 6:20 I thought it was odd that Claire Bear my parents bulldog did not greet us at the door with a hat or costume on. Instead my dad and brother in law greeted us. I just figured Claire Bear was either asleep in the living room or that my parents had put Claire in her room to keep her away from Baby Will.  Oh how I wish that was the case.  I could tell something was wrong with my mom. When I asked her what it was she said that Claire died. I said, WHAT....she said that Claire was hit by a car 15 minutes ago and she died.  I could not believe what she was saying.  It was terrible.  Claire Bear was a part of our immediate family. You might remember this post about my new sister, Claire.

My mom said the pizza man came at 6.  My parents had no idea that CB had stepped out of the house. Within minutes a neighbor called to see if Claire was inside the house because a dog was laying in the middle of the road in front of my parents house.  My dad stepped outside and immediately knew that it was Claire.  My dad quickly moved her out of the road because he knew we were all supposed to be there at any minute.  I truly believe we were not supposed to be there at 6:00.  I don't think I could have handled seeing her in the road.  We went ahead with the pumpkin carving because the boys were so excited.  When we were done we started watching the World Series.  Zachary started looking around the living room and asked my mom where Claire was.  I knew it was coming but nothing prepared me for that moment.  It was HEARTBREAKING!  Both Zachary and Elliott were upset that their doggy best friend was gone. 

I know it could have been a lot worse and that others are dealing with a lot more than the loss of a pet however we LOVED Claire Bear. She loved us. She loved the grandboys and brought so much joy to my parents.  She was the funniest dog I had ever seen.  We had so many fond memories together....like the time Zachary told his teachers he had a dog.

I'll post pictures of the pumpkin carving later. It's funny because our family is so competitive when it comes to this pumpkin carve. We all want the title as the winner but this year it didn't even matter.  The only reason we still did it was because of the boys.  It just goes to show you that each moment is precious and that life is short!  Love on your pets, love on each other, and enjoy every second.  My sweet cousin, Jen is the person who introduced my parents to rescued English Bulldogs. She posted the sweetest tribute to Claire on her blog.  Check it out.

We love you Claire Bear.