“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” 

-CS Lewis

I've already cried plenty today.  And then cried again, angry, knowing that some would probably have already laughed over it all.  And then cried again, again.  This little guy is exactly who I'd normally hold when tears this big filled my heart.  I'd hide in the garage and hold him when I wanted to escape everything else.   And suddenly today, I felt like that little girl again, wanting to run to the garage and sit on it's cold floor, and squeeze my little puppy. 

My mom says she feels so silly, crying over a dog.  And it's true, until you think all that he's sat through with you.  And suddenly your crying for every moment he was the only one who shared with you, or all the ones he shared with your whole family.  And suddenly, it doesn't feel so silly.  And all those who weren't there, who might find it odd, you don't really care.  Because as you said, they weren't there.  

They weren't there.