Good-Bye BeyBey Part II

I'm still reeling from the stunning loss of our BeyBey.

Especially because of the senseless way it happened.

The Head of My Household is taking it extremely hard...I think he feels responsible...even though he was most definitely NOT.

As I've mentioned before, BeyBey was not a fan of my youngest's "Dora Big Wheel."

She also seemed to have an aversion to anything with wheels.

English Bulldogs are not "energetic" dogs by any stretch of the imagination.

But, when the Big Wheel was rolling on the sidewalk or the lawn mower was out, BeyBey would literally lose her mind.

The Head of My Household and I were just discussing yesterday that maybe BeyBey had some kind of traumatic experience with a wheeled and motored contraption of some kind.
Sadly, now we'll never know.

BeyBey liked to be outside...as long as there was shade nearby in case it got too hot.

But, we were always very careful about watching her around the pool.

English Bulldogs are not the most graceful creatures nor do they have any semblance of balance.

Several times when we were outside, BeyBey would toddle over by the pool and I would say, "If you fall in there, I ain't comin' in after ya."

Knowing full well that if she had gone in, I would have rescued her in a flash.

I almost felt that it was inevitable that she would fall in...but I never imagined that it would be when someone wasn't there to help her.

I assumed that once she fell in, it would scare her and she would steer clear of the pool altogether.

Yesterday the Head of My Household and I were on our way home from Jackson, MS.

My firstborn was in charge at home.

She had to run to town and pick up my middle child.

When she left, she decided to leave BeyBey inside the screened in porch.

Unfortunately, the screened in porch had a hole in its screen.

The hole is up high enough though that my firstborn never even imagined BeyBey could reach it.

My youngest had been riding the Dora Big Wheel since she'd been home from school.

I'm sure BeyBey was beside herself wanting to eat the Dora Big Wheel.

After they left the house, the best we can guess is that BeyBey got herself out of the screened in porch because she just had to get a taste of that Big Wheel.

We figure that as she pushed and bit on the Big Wheel, it scooted closer and closer to the pool until it fell in with BeyBey right behind it.

I feel nauseous just typing this.

In the approximately 20 minutes my firstborn was gone, BeyBey drowned.

Soccer Boy and my firstborn found her in the pool when they returned home and realized she was not inside the screened in porch.

 Soccer Boy (bless his heart) got BeyBey and the Big Wheel out of the water.

I am thankful that the Head of My Household does not have that image to remember.

My hysterical firstborn called me on my cell phone to tell me what had happened.

A hysterical teenager on a cell phone is one of the most frightening things you can  ever experience...especially when she is responsible for your home and 2 other children...and especially when all you can understand is the phrase "fell in the pool" and the word, "drowned."

I had to yell at her through the phone to get her to calm down so that I could even understand WHO fell in the pool.

Thankfully we were only 10 minutes from home when she called.

After somehow holding it all together, the Head of My Household made two of the most difficult phone calls he's ever had to make.

He called the wife of the man who gave BeyBey to us.

And, then he called her husband who was umpiring a baseball game in a nearby town.

Because BeyBey had been theirs for 5 years and ours for only 5 weeks, the Head of My Household wanted to let them know before he made any further decisions.

Soccer Boy and the Head of My Household buried BeyBey in our yard while we women stayed inside squalling.

I went out once to offer moral support, but I needed more support than I could provide so I came back inside.

Talk about feeling inadequate.

BeyBey's previous owner stopped by on his way home around 10:30 p.m. to pay his respects as well.
We squalled again.

Needless to say, we didn't sleep well last night.

I opened my eyes this morning, hoping it had all been a bad dream.

But, it wasn't.