All Dogs Go to Heaven.

If you know us, you have probably heard of Reggie. Our neighbors two houses down have been known as 'The Reggies' probably ever since our kids could talk. This is because of their sweet dog, (you guessed it), Reggie.
The Jones were the kids' nursery leaders for the first while we were in the ward, but you know...it's the dog that defined them. :)
When it was nice out and we would play out front almost all day, we would catch Reggie on his walk to the mailbox...the kids would squeal, yell out his name, and run to the end of our driveway, hoping he would come visit. They would pet him, giggle at him, and try to hug him. Scout would sit on the porch and growl at him.
When it wasn't nice out and we were cooped up inside, the kids would sometimes watch out the front window in the late afternoon/early evening. When they spotted Reggie leaving for his walk to the mailbox, they would beg to go outside for just a minute to see Reggie. Squeal, yell out his name, pet, giggle, hug...Scout growling.
It has been one of the few constant things in our simple lives.
Smoothies...rest times...that bag that hangs on the back door to collect random trash throughout the day...and...Reggie.

A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Reggie had gotten sick and died. He was an old boy. He was a good boy. And it was his time.
The kids are relatively familiar with the concept of death. I don't know if that sounds horrible or morbid but...I don't think it's a bad thing. I think that, because we have lost a member of our immediate family that they were never able to really know, the subject is up a lot. We talk about Mason, we talk about who he is, we talk about where he is. We want them to know him, to love him, and to have an understanding of how he fits into our family. So, they see death as it is -- part of our progression. I don't ever try to pretend with them that it doesn't involve sadness. They know loved ones are missed when they pass away. But they know just as surely that we will see them again. They know because they have the pure faith of children and because I never stop telling them.
So, when they found out that Reggie had died, they knew immediately what it meant. But it was really interesting to see a glimpse of sadness...they were sad they wouldn't see him anymore. I watched James' little expression turn from understanding to confusion and then to irritation. He said, "But I want to still see him." I think it added a new level to the concept of what it means to die and I feel that it was a good moment for them, to feel a little sad. It helps round out their perception of what it all is. They are young and don't have to have a well-rounded perception, but because passing from this life to the next is something that is a completely open subject with us, I think that it might help them have understanding for others who don't have that experience.
It led to some conversation about when Scout will die. We just kind of let the kids talk about it and they actually had a pretty interesting conversation! Kids are funny and we probably don't give them enough credit sometimes!
During this time, Scout came into the kitchen, where we were eating breakfast, and he started kind of meowing and yowling at everyone. Bethany said, "I don't think he wants us to talk about it anymore." It was so funny.

Anyway, we decided that the best way we could remember Reggie was to draw some pictures for the Jones Family with our memories of him. For Family Home Evening one night, we did just that:

I took a page from the preschool teachers' handbook (not really) and did a kind of prompt with the kids. At the top of their page I wrote, "When I think about Reggie, I will remember..." and had them fill in the rest, then draw a picture about it.
Here is what James did:
"When I think about Reggie, I will remember that I love him."
And there we have James and Reggie...with his pink legs.
He did not really have pink legs. I thought you might like to know that.
But James is our most imaginative artist. :)

Ben said,
"When I think about Reggie, I will remember that he went to live with Jesus."
And, as you can see, his picture tells that story quite well. :)

Bethany said,
"When I think about Reggie, I will remember when we used to feed him dog treats."
And her picture really does tell that story quite well. :)
There on the left is the Greers' house, then the Jones', then the other Jones' in the blue house that sits right across the street from us.
But of course we are feeding Reggie treats in our own driveway because he always came to us.
So Scout would have someone to growl at.

This post has some Reggie-feeding documented in it, about halfway through, if you want to see our sweet friend in action!

We marched our newly drafted treasures on over to the Jones' house and handed them over. I think the kids enjoyed doing it. It was a good experience to share in someone's sadness and try to do something to help.

We think about Reggie and will always remember him as one of our favorite dogs. Probably the only one we'll ever have around here. :)

But there's always this guy.