Lately I've been missing Roxy quite a bit. This will be our first Christmas since we got her in '96 without her. I think I've missed her more than normal lately because we just recently got a new dog named Rilee and it's hard to adjust to it. It's only about a year old and it's been a bit obnoxious because it isn't trained and gives you an "idiot" sort of look if you tell it no. Anyway, it just makes me miss Roxy more because you wish that new dog was like your old dog... and that just doesn't happen. I think there is a saying that you can't replace a well-trained dog, or the best dog; something along those lines, and I think the saying is right. It's funny how much of an impact a dog can make on your life, and how you really don't realize it until they are gone that they're just as important as a person in some ways. Sometimes my Dad slips up and calls our dog Rachel by Roxy's nicknames and I tell him that there was only one Pooters and she's watching over us from dog heaven now. I believe in reincarnation, and I hope one day I have a dog just like Roxy, if not her in another dog's body. I just wish Roxy didn't have to grow old so quickly and she was still with us today, even if in her last years she was a grouchy poochie. I tell Fitz that he would have loved Roxy in her young days; he only knew her in her old days and didn't attach to her that much because of her stinky potty butt and her grouchiness. He has a lab named Max who is fat and lazy, but has a quirky personality like Roxy did when she was younger so he reminds me of her. Someday I will have a dog just like Roxy, but until then, Max and me will "shake it up" together and dance in Roxy's memory. In honor of the holidays, here's a favorite Santa Poochies picture of Roxy.
