Hannah Goes to Heaven

I remember the day we met you. You came barreling down the stairs with your gangly legs and signature body wiggle. We thought you were so funny-looking, but surely you’d grow into those long twiggy legs and stretched out body (you didn’t). I remember the conversations before adopting you – three dogs…were we crazy? Who has three giant dogs? Oh little did we know. We were your third family in 18 months and I promised you the rest of your life would be the best of your life.

I don’t know how our “no dogs on the couch” rule lasted for the first two dogs, but you shattered it on day one. You ran into the house, hopped on up, and clenched your eyes shut. You were home and you weren’t going to waste any time on formalities. I remember telling you out loud “just this once.” Next thing I knew we had to buy a bigger couch so there was room for us.

You made it clear you were sent to this earth to be best friends with EVERYONE. I have never seen such a giant dog pancake on the floor the way you could so little kids and tiny dogs wouldn’t be afraid. There was something about you that made everyone you met fall in love. We were your third family but the reality was the whole world became your family and I know half a dozen surrogate moms who are crying along with me tonight.

I hope I never forget the way you could compress all the energy in your body like a slinky. You’d scrunch yourself up and then the most epic wiggle would start with this doofy grin on your face and travel down your body all the way out the end of your tail. I want to remember your one set of black eyelashes and one set of white and the giant freckles on your nose, the way you always darted through the door to come in the house like you were so stealthy, and how much you loved being wrapped in fuzzy blankets (cold weather Saint you were not!). My heart hurts knowing you won’t be upside down in the hallway when I walk in from the garage and that the tumbleweeds of white dog hair aren’t going to come back 5 minutes after I vacuum this time. I have a feeling we’ll still find strings of drool flung 10 feet up the wall for years to come though, and there’s a gross smile in that.

Hannah

Hannah Banana

Moose

Panda

Big Girl

Smooshy Bear

Boozy von Awesome Paws

We love you to the moon and back. Sleep tight, sweet girl.