On The Avenue

I have received so many blessings this year!!!  One of the blessings that is dear to my heart this morning is the

 'Old Rustic Screen Door"

 that Eric added to the front of our house this summer.  Before he added this door, our large storm door was the only door there.  Once he added this screen door, we were able to leave the storm door open during the summer which allowed the beautiful summer air to blow through our home.   However, the beautiful summer air wasn't the only thing that made it's way into the front door.  It wasn't uncommon for me to be working in the house and hear panting at my front door.  I would look over at the door and there was our HUGE Dog Higgins!!!  He even got a little more daring as the summer went on and learned that if he nudged the door with his nose, the door would open and he could sneak in the house.  He never made it more than about 10 feet into the door, but that never stopped him from trying.  When I looked at him and spoke to him, his tail would start wagging so hard, I was afraid he was going to throw his back out.  - He had the funniest way of smiling at Eric - I am not kidding.....  He really smiled and it made Eric's whole day!!!  Higgins always knew if he came to the front door, I would give him a treat.  And boy...... did he love treats.   Just when I thought his tail couldn't wag any harder, he would see the treat in my hand and sure enough..... he tail wagged harder.  

It all started about five years ago, when Chloee came running into our wood shop yelling, "Daddy, there is a HUGE dog outside!!"  Eric's first impression was to tell her to stay away from this HUGE, Strange dog.  After just minutes with him, our family fell in love with him.  After a lot of research as to where this dog came from, we found his previous owners.  He was more than they could handle at that time and they gave him to our family.  He came to our family already knowing many tricks.  He loved to shake and would always shake my hand when he wanted a treat.  He LOVED chasing trucks (sorry to all of our Millville friends who were chased by our sweet Higgins) and he loved playing fetch.  He would sit and wait for that stick to be thrown and run as quickly as he could to get it.  We only had one problem.  We couldn't figure out how to get him to drop the stick.  We tried every word (and believe me, we tried some funny ones) and we just never figured it out. 

I am sharing all of these memories with you today because our sweet Higgins passed away during the night.  I have mentioned before that I wasn't raised with pets and over the years Eric has managed to turn our little 1/2 acre lot into a small petting zoo.  I had no idea (until our Higgins) how much I could love an animal and how sad I could feel with him gone.  Our family shed many tears this morning as we talked about our "Higgie bomber" (as Eric nicknamed him) and all the fun times we had with him.  He has been a huge part of my children's childhood and a huge part of my life.  

Over this past year, I have truly realized that it is the small everyday things that make our life so grand.  It is so easy to get caught up in "Chasing The Dream" or "Waiting for the Greener Grass" and I am so grateful I have learned this.  Who would have thought that an Old Rustic Screen Door would help create so many wonderful memories with the best dog in the world?  

We Love You Higgie and will miss you dearly!!!!