Maisy

Almost 14 years ago we went to Texas to visit the Stapleton crew...their dog just had puppies. They were all so cute but the fattest one caught my eye and I had to have her. At the time we had just moved into an apartment that didn't allow pets. I was sure Brett would say no but to my surprise he said yes. She was too little to take home then so when she was old enough Brett's dad drove her up to Oklahoma and Brett met him half way to pick her up. We did the best we could to hide her from the apartment complex but eventually we got caught. We had to move apartments...but she was worth the hassle. She chewed everything. Shoes, sunglasses, anything she could that she wasn't supposed to. She always slept in the weirdest places/positions, my favorite was on top of us. She has always thought she was a lap dog. Under the couch was another favorite...when we moved to Texas the first time, she would slide underneath our bed and we would have to pull her out in the morning because she would get stuck. 

She loved the water. You couldn't keep her out of. She would've been a great dock diving dog, she flew off of the dock! Yet if it was raining outside she would have to be shoved out of the door to go potty. She loved the snow. She loved to chase snowballs and drive her head down into the snow. Then she would lay on the back deck covered in snow basking in the winter sun. 

She was our sweet crazy Maisy and we loved her. But then we had Jaris and we saw Maisy in a whole new light. She would sleep outside his door, just waiting for him to wake up. In the sweetest way he would pull her and crawl all over her. She never flinched. He loved to feed her food from his highchair, he loved to try to ride on her like horse, wrestle with her, all the fun boy things...she was always game.

When he transitioned into a big boy bed...she slept on the end of his bed until she couldn't jump up anymore. She was the same if not better when Landry came along. Landry was a little less sweet to her. She liked to pull her tail, jump on her, dress her up, just over all a little more rough. She actually stuck a turkey baster up her nose trying to use it as a "booger sucker" and Maisy just let it happen. She would never just get up and walk away, she just let them play. Jaris and Maisy had a deep bond. Landry LOVED Maisy, she called her precious all the time and she was so encouraging when it was harder for Maisy to get up. Landry would randomly stop what she was doing just to go give Maisy a kiss on the head. Every night she has to give her a hug, kiss, nosies, and a noggin bump. The kids + Maisy videos are some of my favorite. 

Everyone always called her Sweet Maisy, her demeanor was just that and she has always been that way. Even just these two years in our current home the neighbors all love her and call her sweet Maisy. She's the grandma of the neighborhood dogs and loves being outside with all of us. 

We will miss her. We couldn't have dreamt up a better dog for our family...she was special. If I was sitting on the floor she would come over and sit right in front of me and I would hug her. I had many talks with her and her eyes just looked at you like she were truly listening. As much as she was a family dog, she was my girl. A piece of my heart went with her.

Letting her go was the hardest decision I've ever made. We are on day two without her and I'm still a mess constantly on the verge of tears. And I know I will be that way for a while. She was a family member for the last 14 years, thats a huge piece of us now missing. On her last night with us, in true Maisy form...she slept on a pile of my clothes. 

My heart is aching. I hope she knows how much we loved her and how much we will miss her.