Sidney?

First off I'd like to say thank you to my wonderful blogger buddies for their sweet comments after yesterday's manic post! Once I got started there I just couldn't stop and it felt good to be able to share. I had tears streaming down my face while I was typing it and your kind comments made me tear up again, but all in a good way.

Now I'd like to talk about our dear, sweet Sidney. He's really the reason I'm blogging. He passed away on July 29. He just went to sleep and didn't wake up. Denny got him for me as a wedding gift in 1994 and he was with us through thick and thin. He was always there for us and he was the most awesome pug ever! When he died, we asked the vet about what to do with him. They said the city would "bury" him for us, but we didn't want them burying him in some landfill. We chose to have him creamated and his ashes are in a small wooden box on our mantle. Here is the handsome boy... As you can see, Pippin and Sidney were bestest buddies.

I was thinking about how good Pippin is looking now since we brought the other pugs home. I really don't think he got so fat from over-eating. I really think it was because he adored Sidney and wanted to be with him and to look out for him. Sidney couldn't get around very well in his last couple of years. For the last few months of his life he couldn't get up at all. He had a back problem and he gradually lost the use of his back legs. So he stayed on his pillows and Pippin snuggled with him. Once Sid was gone and we got hyper Eli, Pippin started getting exercising and he has been slimming down to the svelte pug you know today ;-)

Pippin always seemed to be there with Sid. The strange thing was he didn't seem too grief-stricken when Sid died. Jasmine was heartbroken, but Pip didn't really seem upset. It was the Saturday after Sid died (he died on a Tuesday) that we went to our first pug Meetup. It was so therapeutic for Jasmine. She had such a good time running and playing with the other pugs. That afternoon we went to KPR's Pug 500 and met Eli. It was like it was fate. We met Kelly and Brian and Sophie and Dixie at the next Meetup and I found them on FB. Kelly introduced me to her blog and suggested I start one too. Thanks Kelly!

Anyway, maybe I watch too much Ghost Hunters, but I think Sid may still be here with us. There hasn't been much real evidence, but we have had some small experiences. Like one night not long after Sid died, Denny thought Jasmine got off the bed in the middle of the night. If a pug has to go outside during the night, they go down the stairs next to the bed and head out the door and up the hall. He got up to go let her out and saw what he thought was her pass by the bedroom door. Granted it was dark and he was half asleep, but it was still weird. He then realized that Jas was still in bed sound asleep. Denny swore that it looked just like a black pug in the hallway. I think he even woke me up to tell me about it. Little experiences like that.

If you watch Ghost Hunters, you know that they don't put too much stock in "orbs". They can usually be explained by dust or bugs or something. Then I got this picture of Eli outside. I thought it was a drop of rain on the lens, but there was nothing when I looked at the camera. Still, I was skeptical. I joked with Denny that it was Sid sniffing Eli's butt :-)

Then yesterday I was trying to take pictures of the pugs together. Jasmine had walked away, but the other 4 were still hanging together. This is the first picture...

Then I took this one within seconds after that first one...Notice anything different?

I know this sounds crazy, but I really think Sid is still here with us. And maybe that's why Pippin wasn't too upset...his buddy was still here and running with him. Jasmine is more of the "adult" of the pug group, so maybe she couldn't see Sid. I don't know...am I totally nuts? Don't answer that too quickly! I have had a few other minor paranormal experiences in my life. The weirdest was last year at Denny's Mom's funeral, we were outside at the cemetery and it was really cold. I felt someone lean against my back and I thought it was Sam moving close to me to keep warm. I turned around and saw that Sam was about a foot or two behind me. There was no one touching me. I don't know that it was Paula...I tend to think it was someone else who was buried at the cemetery who was just trying to see what was going on.

Now for the really good stuff...we got an award from Punchbug today! Woo hoo! Thank you so much Punchy! It really made our day :-)

We would like to now award Harry, Eduardo, and Margie! Woo hoo! Thanks for being such great blogger buddies!

Pug hugs and kisses!

Vikki and the Pug Posse