Goodbye Kingston "Cuddles" Wheeler.....

Last night we lost a dear sweet family member, our Irish Setter, Kingston. What a faithful friend he has been over the past seven years. Last night was such a cold evening so we had decided that it was the perfect night to cuddle under the covers, eat popcorn, and watch a movie. I had gone to the movie store, and when I arrived home David informed me that something was wrong with King. He knew that things looked grim, but he was determined to get him to a doctor as quickly as possible. He made a few phone calls and discovered that all of the veterinarians in town and in the surrounding areas were attending a clinic in Lake of the Ozarks. So David and his dad packed Kingston up and headed off to Springfield to see the only vet he could find. Kingston barely survived the trip and when they arrived the doctor let David know that King needed surgery, stat. They took some x-rays of Kings stomach and realized that even with surgery King would only have a 30% survival rate. Weighing the options, David knew what he had to do. We will miss you King. Through this the boys have had numerous questions in the last few hours about death. Death is so hard. My children were extremely close to King, and my son Drew asked, why does my heart hurt mommy. Why do I want to cry. I told him, your heart hurts because you let King have a piece of it. You loved him, and you are going to miss him. That's why you feel like crying, you know you will never see King again, and that is sad. I looked at all of them and said, "We have to look at this as a time we can give thanks for all of the good times we have had with King. You have been blessed to have such a wonderful friend. God works everything out for our good, if we set our minds on Him. Let's pray that He will mend our hearts, and help us to remember all of the good times." Drew looked at me with his big hazel eyes and said, "I think I will always remember Kings cuddles, maybe we should have named him that. No I liked the name Kingston. I know he can be Kingston Cuddles Wheeler."