*Athena's Corner* My First Visit to Daddy's Resting Place

Welcome Furends ❤️! Athena here 🫶🏻 So, to start off, you might be wondering why it's me speaking to you all today instead of mommy. We'll, it's because we've decided to do a mix of posts on here for you guys and switch things up a bit on Simplyathena.blog. Yes, it is mommy managing my blog and social media but it is supposed to be content about me right?! This being the case, mom only thought it proper that I should be able to come and share with you, from my perspective, some of the experiences that i've shared with her as well! 😊 With that said, now you'll never know if you'll get a post from a first-time pawrent's perspective *Ahem* mommy *Ahem* or a pup's perspective *Ahem* Mine *Ahem* (keeping it fun and surprising for you all my AWESOME and AMAZING furends!)

Today, I want to briefly share with you a short but meaningful memory mommy and I shared not too long ago. As you all know from her last post, we lost my daddy in November and I miss him so so much!! *Sniff Sniff* 😢 Miss playing with you daddy and being your Thena Mama *sniff sniff* See, I already knew that something was not going well with him because, for a really long time... mommy says 3 months, she was not on a regular schedule at home. During the weekdays she would come home late or many times she would not even not come home at all. This was because she would be taking care of daddy at the hospital after work and sometimes would have to spend the night there with him. Most days I would spend the entire day with Grandpa taking care of me at home but there were moments where even him and Grandma would join mommy at the hospital so I was on my own for a while. On weekends, it was pretty much a similar story. Mommy would wake up and get ready and leave pretty right away so that she could hear what the doctors had to say about how daddy was doing. These were not fun times because I did not get to share much quality time with her but she explained to me and made sure I knew when she came home that she wasn't abandoning me, she just had to be away for a while to make sure daddy was as best as he could be because he was not feeling well... she said he had something called "cancer" and that she had to make sure she was there so that she could do her best to help him get better and get back to us.

One day, mommy left really really scared and sad to the hospital... sadder than before because she knew that daddy was not doing well at all. That day she knew that daddy would probably not be coming back home and I could tell she was not doing ok at all. That made me sad too know that daddy was very very VERY sick and mommy was extra sad. I later found out that my daddy had gone to be with God and that I would never physically see him or be able to play with him again just like mommy had thought that morning. Of course this made me even MORE sad because I was his Thena Mama and I too wanted him to come back home 🏡 ☹️.

Fast forward to the days where the family again had to be out for a few hours and I had to be on my own, one was to have daddy's vigil at his church and then the day after to formally say "see you later" at his funeral. Mommy to this day still refuses to say "Good-bye" as she says she know she'll see him again... but point is furends... I had not been able to see or even be near daddy since the day he went into the hospital sick. My first opportunity to even be near him came about two weeks or so after he left us when I was able to ride with mommy and go to his gravesite. We arrived and met his parents (aka grandpawrents) who were right by his resting place. I was able to see mommy leave him some flowers for their anniversary and his birthday, which we both were praying he was celebrating happily up there with God and the angels. I also got to see how beautifully they had his grave decorated. They still had the flowers from his vigil/funeral and my aunts, uncle, and grandpawrents had also decorated for his birthday. Besides the flowers, I was very interested in the other smells and surroundings of this place. It was all new new to me! I was sniffing around, mainly around daddy's area, and there came a point where I became very fixated on one particular area just right above daddy's grave. I don't know exactly what I saw but I kept tugging tightly at my leash and kept my front paws firmly dug in the ground as if wanting to go there. I didn't bark at all but its as if I saw something (someone?) I recognized and wanted to go there (or go to them). Mommy thinks I saw daddy somehow but I don't know, I just know that that particular area and whatever was around that no one else could see was intriguing to me.

After a brief visit, mommy didn't want to stay long as it was making her extra sad to not see daddy or be able to have him come back home with us, we left. I was able to be with her and fall asleep in her arms on the car ride home cheering her up a bit after a sad time. It was lovely to see where daddy is now... even though I really REALLY miss him and wish he was here to play with me. At least I had a chance to see where he's at rest. I can't wait to go back, and mommy promised me I will be back... we're just waiting until she feels a little bit stronger and better so that we can go and greet him again and leave him some flowers.

This was my first trip and experience at daddy's resting place friends. I thought you guys would want to hear little stories like this on my behalf! If you liked it, please leave me a comment here or on my social media and i'll share some other experiences and/or fun things I share with mommy and the family. We just passed the holidays and I would love to share what it was like spending it with the extended family! Let me know!

❤️ Much Love my Furends ❤️

XOXO Athena XOXO