Thursday, September 18, 2008

RIP husky

it finally happened... on our trip to the beach this past labor day, joel lost his beloved husky dog. husky has been a constant in joel's life since he was born... a precious friend that he has toted along almost everywhere and cuddled with every night for almost four years. he's been pretty sad, but i almost cried when ben repeated what joel had expressed in his prayer one night last week while i was at yoga:

"dear heavenly father, we thank thee for mommy and daddy and kadin and joelie. please bless the toys and the food (this is the exact prayer he says every time, no matter the time of day, despite our encouragement for variance)." he pauses. "please bless husky that he can be not scared at the beach. bless carter to be safe when he brings my husky to me. and bless husky that he can have fun in the surfing. in the name of jesus christ, amen."


seriously tragic. so we just HAD to order another husky... and it's on the way to our house as we speak from those folks at amazon. but i'm a little worried how he's going to take to a brand new husky. obviously joel's going to notice that it's not the same dog. he's no dummy. any suggestions on how we should handle it? what we should say? how to introduce the new husky?

19 comments:

Katie M said...

Oh no! I love how he called it "UK-ee" forever.

That is the cutest prayer ever. I'm totally imagining uk-ee catching some serious swells in Santa Cruz.

janaya said...

i saw the subject of this post and literally gasped out loud. and that prayer!! i am definitely due for a good dose of your little kid. what a sweetheart. awww. i miss you guys.

anyway... i have no experience with transitioning toys, but i can imagine what i would want to hear if i were 4. :) maybe you can tell him a story... feed the imagination he already has going for him and tell him that husky is out traveling the world now (or something way cooler than that... though that would be pretty cool), but he didn't want him to be lonely, so he sent his son "husky the 2nd" to be with him. though... that might bring up the "how did husky get a son?" question... haha. anyway... oh! maybe you could even write a note from husky to accompany husky II. oh man... my kids are so screwed. haha.

will you please tell us what you decide to do and how it goes when you do it? i'm so curious how he'll take to this new and i'm sure much fluffier husky.

Molly said...

Is it the same kind of (and size) husky only newer and cleaner? You can say that he surfed so much that all the water cleaned him and that's why it's important to take baths every day... Hahaha. But then he might want to bathe it every day. No idea.

Mike and Nicole said...

That's the cutest and saddest thing I've ever heard. I just had to tell you that. I liked Janaya's idea...maybe the new husky could be the brother? :) I don't know.

B said...

I don't know how to introduce a NEW Husky, but I have a suggestion to avoid future problems like this. You should get two Huskys. You rotate them every few weeks or so, that way they are worn evenly... then if you ever can't find one, you have the other on hand. My kids are all attached to their bears and I have a spare at the top of my closet for each one! It comes in handy when they are sick and it needs to be washed... misplace it etc. Just a suggestion :)

Kadi said...

I nearly cried when Ben told me Joel's prayer as well. Seriously broke my heart. I am so glad that a new one is on it's way...this is my idea, I think it's awesome, but you should take it or leave it, no worries...so, since you've been telling Joel that his husky has been surfing at the beach, I think you should tell him that he came back from surfing. He had been having so much fun and surfing so much that all the salt water and waves cleaned and fluffed him up really nice...or just tell him the truth...it's a brand new husky for him to love just like his old one. I hope it goes well...I kind of think you should use the surf story, or something like it though, or he might keep saying sad prayers for husky at the beach...I don't know. The kids are darling and we miss you guys. Carter will be happy to hear when husky is back to Joel. He's been worried for Joel. Good luck!

mj said...

okay, so tears seriously just welled up in my eyes. i had no idea he lost it there! that's so sad. i have no ideas on how to make the transition smoothly, but if i'm inspired, i'll let ya know.

Mrs. Ordinary said...

Your boy is so sweet!

Lisa said...

Cutest prayer! I have no idea how to transition the toy since Maisey hasn't formed any attachments yet. Maybe you could just say since husky now lives as the beach you thought he might like a new dog and rename this one and the whole bit. Let us know what you do and how it works.

Anonymous said...

What a sweet little boy you have. Isabelle has her special dog and when it gets lost her dogs sister gets to snuggle with her, ie a newer dog we keep in the top of her closet. I wouldn't stretch the truth too much as it might backfire. But Isabelle likes knowing her Jakey has a sister.

Morgan said...

that is SO sad. i couldn't believe it when nate told me about your post. i am so sad for him. so you broke down and got him a new one? i wonder how he will take to it. you will have to let me know. you could say that he got all buff (fluffy) from all the surfing and swimming he has been doing at the beach. or you could do what kadi suggested and just tell him the truth. it might be a good learning opportunity for him... but it is still so sad. that little prayer just breaks my heart for him. he sounds like he's hanging in there though... he's a tough dude!

jillian said...

awww! i don't know what's wrong with me, but that actually DID make me cry. the world is so cruel. haha. joelie sounds like he's doing okay. at least he understands that he lost his husky and isn't throwing tantrums (I assume he's not anyways...). i like the idea of the new look coming back from surfing. maybe show him some before and after pictures of some buff dudes coming back from surfing in preparation so that he will think everyone comes back clean and beautiful:) would a four-year-old see through that?

Jackie said...

This is a travesty. Seriously!

I think new Husky should be a long lost cousin that has requested to live with Joel. Kind of a like a study abroad exchange or something.

Good luck!!

Michal Thompson said...

I am jealous and elated all at the same time. I always wished my kids would have a lovey, but they don't but then I don't have to worry about this happeneing. What do you do. Well I would just tell him it is husky's best friend, or little brother. I am at a loss really.

erin said...

i remember that little guy - robinson (the well's little dude) had a dog very similar that went everywhere with him. i think they had to get #2 as well. ellie lost her special blankie, but was not old enough to mourn it...although i did. anyways, i am sad he is gone, but telling the truth...that might be the best way.

Kristen said...

That is so sad. I feel for the little guy. Sydney is so attached to her pink crocheted blanket. I've been terrified that she will lose it. It's hard enough just to peel it away from her long enough to wash it. I finally found the same blanket on-line and ordered another one so we would have a back-up. Immediately she recognized a difference between the brand new soft and clean blanket and her old, ragged, worn blanket. She DOES NOT like the new one and wants nothing to do with it. I try washing it often to wear it out a little but I'm afraid it's a lost cause. Let's just hope she never loses her precious blanky. It's so funny how kids bet so attached to certain things. Hopefully Joel will like his new Husky more than Sydney liked her new blanky.

Charla and Jarom said...

Oh man, that is so sweet :) I love that first picture of him when he was little cuddling with it, so cute.

Danielle said...

whit - you are coming here? LOL no one ever comes here LOL yes i will be in town that weekend - the best way to get here from sac is 80 to tahoe/reno once you are in reno that is the time to gas up cause it is a whole dollar a gallon more here. Then take 395 north to susanville once you get on 395 it is about an hour depending on how you drive but you just follow that all the way into susanville. if you have questions about anything email me scrappingdaniatyahoodotcom

Kyle, Carrie, Jenna, and Emily said...

I know it is a little late now, but you could have taken the new dog and run over it with your car to make an attempt to have it look like the old Husky.