Saying Goodbye

This past week one of our very first foster puppies "Jeter" left us to go to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue.

This being our first one to go it was very hard to know what to expect. I knew this day was coming so I feel I had lots of time to prepare myself mentally, but you just never know until the moment arrives how you will feel.
I got a call on Monday saying a spot had opened up and could I bring him to the shelter for transport on Tuesday.Um..way to give me time to prepare guys..lol... Of course I said it wasn't a problem 1: because it really wasn't and 2: because I knew it was finally his chance for adoption!!
I told my family that evening and my 8yr. old was not very convinced that Jeter was ready to go just yet! We had "the talk" about how this was a good thing and how this is what fostering is all about and we all gave an example of what his future life might turn out to be. :)
Dropping him off Tuesday morning was actually a little easier than I expected...We had spent the evening before giving him some extra attention and saying our goodbyes because we knew I had to leave out first thing in the morning and there would be no time then. When I arrived at the shelter my heart was heavy and I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but when I walked inside I saw there was already a crate waiting for him and in the next crate were 2 of his litter mates! No one at the shelter rushed me and I was able to spend as much time as I needed before putting him in the crate.. I held him for a while and said my personal goodbyes to him and told him to be a good boy..Then I put him in his transport crate and waited a while until I saw that he was nervous but settling and then I petted him one last time through the crate door and walked away feeling like this boy had such a wonderful future ahead of him.
Instead of the overwhelming feeling of loss that I expected to feel, I was filled with hope and pride that this boy who I watched grow from a skinny little weakling into this gorgeous, healthy, playful young pup was going to be a well balanced and wonderful addition to some family in the very near future. On the drive home I imagined where he would be in just a few short weeks.. Playing with new children, other family pets, growing and learning, and I was at peace! Though I won't even pretend I didn't cry most of the way home!! We miss him very much around the house and things certainly aren't the same without him here, but we are all hopeful for his future, and thankful for the time we had with him.


UPDATE
I received this email from Ms. Stephanie Duer who transported Jeter all the way to Washington DC to his new home!! Stephnie, thank you soooo much for the update!! :)

"I got the privilege of seeing Ace go to his forever home this weekend. Pickens brought their dogs to me to transport to DC this time...so Ace came along! When we arrived at the transport site a tall nice looking man walked up to the van very excited and said, which van is this? I said Florence and he said "yay! it's florence" to his wife and two young children. They waited anxiously as we called out dogs names as we pulled them off the van......When we said ACE, he and his daughter were so excited they couldn't stand it! The wife recorded on video as he took Ace from his crate! They were all so excited and he went to a fantastic home! He's going to be one spoiled little pup!"