Her Place

 Georgia never had her own bed or her own place.

Cecelia never had her own bed or her own place.

We had four different "big" dog beds strewn around the house.  We had a few blankets thrown over a couple of the beds.  Our home has hard wood floors, so we have rugs of different make, model, material and size.  

Our big dogs slept wherever, whenever.

But Dolce was different.  

I don't remember exactly when we bought her dog bed and blanket.  I don't remember where she slept before we bought her dog bed and blanket, but Dolce did have her own bed. Her own blanket.  Her own place.

Mark and I love street fairs, farmer's markets, etc., and Las Cruces has a great one.  Each weekend, I believe.  We often went because THE BEST kettle corn, by far, was found at the Las Cruces farmer's market.  We would stroll the market eating our kettle corn.  Oftentimes we would take Dolce with us.

On one of those days, we saw it.  

Her bed.  

We knew it was perfect, and we snatched it up 

Followed by a trip to Wal-Mart where I bought a baby blanket to go in her bed.

That was probably fifteen years ago, and it has been her bed since.

No telling how many times I washed both, but the bed always held its shape, and the blanket faded very little.

They were hers from then on, and she loved them.

I later bought her another bed, so she, too, could have multiple beds in multiple locations, and, while she did try it out and use it a time or two, she remained faithful to "her" bed.  

When we moved into this house about eight years ago, I placed her bed down in the living room, and that is where it stayed each day.

I would move her bed each night and place her right next to my bed.  Mark tucks me in every night, and every single night, I would say, "Don't step on her.  She's little."  And pretty much every night, Mark would roll his eyes and say, "I know she's there.  I won't step on her."  And I would laugh and pat her goodnight and snuggle into my own blankets.

Then each morning, I would move her bed back to its rightful place in the living room.  

Where it remained.

Until this past Thursday.

When I took Dolce to the vet that terrible, horrible, no-good day, I took her in her bed.  Blanket and all.  

I told the vet the bed and blanket went with her.  That's how it had to be.

And now her bed is gone.

And her place is empty.