Taking Our Best Memories Along Part IV
With the sale of our house pending, the subject has come up of the bittersweetness of leaving behind a home where we have so many happy memories with so many pets. In the summer of 2014 I completed a project here that was very close to my heart – a memorial garden for all of those pets. I am sad to leave that behind, but I will be taking many parts of it with us, and creating a new garden at our new home.
This trellis holds a tag for each pet that lived with us at our current home but have since passed on. In this series I am sharing about each of those pets and how their memories tie in with our home.
Those readers who have been following this blog for some time already know our beagle Kobi. He was an original “crew member” and he passed away just over two years ago from old age. He joined our family in 2001, and came from other family who wanted him to have a home where he could get more time and attention. We had been a single dog household only up until that point, but we’ve always felt that adding a second dog was one of the best things we ever did. Kobi quickly became best friends with Maggie (introduced in Part III of this series), and our cats as well (introduced in Parts I and III). He always loved everyone human, canine, and feline.
I couldn’t find a lot of photos of Kobi in our home early on. That’s because at the time he joined us we spent a lot of time at our camper, which was our home away from home. We started camping with our dog Shelby (Part II), as a way she could come with us on vacations and long weekends. When Maggie came along, we got a bigger camper and parked it at a campground not far from our home. With just a half hour’s drive we could be at our rustic campground that had a pond for Maggie to swim in along with swimming holes in the brook that flowed off the mountain, and hiking trails right there. It was in the foothills of the White Mountains so many other hikes and lakes were close by as well.
Most of my photos of Kobi from those days are at camp, hiking, or boating; he loved all of those things. When we lost Maggie in a tragic accident three years later, we lost our heart for camping. We also decided then we were going to get two more dogs (which turned out to be 3), and the campground wouldn’t allow 3. We realized as well at the time that we had been neglecting our house and our cats since we were at camp almost every weekend and vacation. So we sold the camper and became homebodies. That was when we did additional remodeling to our house, closing off the cathedral ceiling in our dining room and adding a master suite, then later remodeling the second bath. Adding the porch was the last thing we did but that was after Kobi was gone.
I was able to spend more time working in my gardens and that was something Kobi loved to do with me. He’d either cruise around sniffing or just lie next to me and watch me. He was there for the groundbreaking of the memorial garden, though he didn’t live to see it’s completion. His ashes are buried there but his spirit will be moving with us to our new home.
We’ll have two more posts in this series….our cat Katie, and our golden retriever Moses. They may not get done before we actually move though, closing day is 2 weeks from tomorrow!
If you’d like to read more about Kobi, you can do so in these two posts: “Puppy Dog Tales – Mr. Easygoing” and “A Good Life” which was my tribute to him after his death.
Today we are joining the Thursday Barks & Bytes blog hop. Thank you to our hosts 2 Brown Dawgs blog, and Heart Like a Dog. Please visit other blogs through the links below!
Super sweet – thanks so much for sharing..
What a wonderful look back. You know Kobi is one of my favorites. We used to camp too, but the campground where we kept our camper started to get weird about dogs. Once we got Storm we decided to get the cabin instead of camping. Good luck with the closing. It is a very exciting time. Thanks for joining the hop!
I’m not a real social person, so being at a campground didn’t always appeal to me. Having your own space with your cabin has to be perfect. Our new home is isolated from neighbors so we’re going to feel like we have a cabin in the woods a lot of the time!
Aw, such sweet memories! And, yes, the spirits of all your fur angels will go with you to the new home, just as the (movable parts of the) beautiful memorial garden will. Your memories will always be with you.
Bless, I love this series. So memorial.
Awe, they were beautiful!! I absolutely love your memorial garden and I’m sorry you can’t take all of it to the new house! ((hugs))
I know….I picked out a lot of special plants for that garden. On the other hand, now I will get to pick out more and I think that will help me feel closer to the spirits of all of them whose tags will be hanging in a new garden.
What wonderful memories you have made. Wherever you live or travel, you will take those with you. Hugs, Janet
You have lots of good memories to take with you…and really, that is what’s most important.
So many sweet memories and a beautiful fur family you have!!
Memories sure are good to hold onto
Lily & Edward
What great memories and precious photos. OMD! The puppy pictures have given me the FEVER! NO, Melissa, no…bad girl! BOL!
Uh oh…you might be in trouble! Once the fever hits it’s hard to shake it….LOL.
I loved Kobi, what a great dog he was and to tolerate adding three more to the mix…wow! I really do love that memorial garden and love that you are taking it with you. Of course, Kobi will always be with you because you have such wonderful memories, but it’s nice to have something to look at too.
Thanks for joining the blog hop!
I doubt we’ll ever have another dog that is quite as easygoing as Kobi was; he was always so content no matter what we were doing. I do still miss having him by my side all the time. Luke sticks with me some, but he also just goes off on his own at times.
Kobi won’t physically be with you, but his spirit will be. Thanks for sharing your precious memories.
I love this!! After we buried Ginger in January and made her memorial I instantly had regrets that I did not have her cremated so I could bring her with me if we ever moved but like you said their ashes/body may be once place but their spirit comes with us 🙂
xoxo,
Bell Fur Zoo Mama
People without pets would never understand how we change our lives for our pets, but it really does give us a good feeling. We remember Kobi and when he passed. So sad. We are dealing with Katie and her heart issues now. Mom says it is preferable to cancer, but it is not easy. Hugs to you all and good luck moving.
It is so, so tough to see them get old, but on the other hand I’ve lost them at young ages and that is worse. But it’s heartbreaking no matter what. We are thinking of Katie and your family all the time.
Things seem to really be coming together for the move now, thank you!
Another great trip down memory lane! Good luck with the move. Love Dolly
I would love it to have a camper and I bet Kobi enjoyed this home on wheels and the time he spent there with you… in a lounge chair, what a fab life :o) I must laugh as I saw Kobi and the white stuffie… that’s THE beagle look … it couldn’t be better lol