A sad day

Good morning all. Yesterday I received a call from my mom that her dog had a passed away. I can't being to explain how upsetting this is. People get attached to their pets every day, and it is always difficult to lose something you care for. But in my mom's case her dog was more than just a companion, she brought stability and purpose to my mom's life. My mom is a good mom, no - she is a great mom. She used to be right outside my classroom when I school let out when I was in first grade. We liked to walk home from school on days that were pleasant. She would have a thermos of sweet tea and a hug ready for me. We would walk home and talk about my day and look at flowers in peoples yards. My mom loves flowers and gardening and it meant so much to learn about those things. We stopped and spoke with a few people and mom would ask for clippings of plants so we could root them and grow them in our own yard.Those were good times and mom had a lot of good years. But like flowers there are years with blooms and years without. By the time that I was finishing with college and dad was working a ton mom had no one left to take care of. We had just about always had a pet in the house when I was growing up, but we really didn't have anything during this time. Mom had nursed her parents, but they had passed. She had taken care of my nieces and nephew, but they were old enough to be in school or moved away. My dad's mom had lived with us during her last year alive and mom had taken care of her. Mom's sister had passed away years ago, and she didn't have a great relationship with her brother. So really other than dad & myself she was alone. Liza was the answer. I found her on a doberman rescue site and we drove 700 miles round trip one day to pick her up. Liza was not the most mentally stable of animals, so she needed a lot of love and attention - mom offered that willingly because she had so much to give! During the next several years was are very rough time of transition for mom and our family in general - it was VERY rough for a while. But when mom came out of it there was Liza - still needing love and attention and mom was once again in place where she needed somewhere to channel those emotions. It was a perfect match! Mom has gotten better and has new interested and friends, and she still had Liza giving her tons of attention and love. They needed one another and helped one another in a huge way. I am so thankful for Liza - she deserves a trophy filled with milk bones for providing just what mom needed! Yesterday Liza passed away - it was a very sad day. We will be here to help mom and provide what comfort we can. But I sure will miss Liza - she was my dog too.