Bart & His Continuous Presence

Happy Friday Everyone!!

What a whirlwind of emotions we have experienced this last week since Bart left us. Our home is not the same without him. We miss him sitting with us on the back porch at the end of the day, trying to maneuver his 55 pound body into our laps.

But, he is still with us…

When my husband Lane was preparing Bart’s final resting place his wedding band slipped off his finger and we could not find it anywhere. Unfortunately Lane had used the tractor and back hoe for this project and had moved around too much dirt in the process. After exhausting all efforts to find it, Lane decided that it was where it was supposed to be – with Bart forever.  My heart ached with such a sweet sentiment.

Yesterday morning I awoke abruptly to see Bart standing in our bedroom doorway and he was Peeved!! He was giving our male German Shorthair Pointer, Maxx, the evil eye for sleeping on Bart’s bed on the floor next to our bed. Bart never really like Maxx and Maxx would play upon Bart’s jealousy of me with any other male dog.  Bart’s face was priceless and he was as real standing there as these words on this page. I still laugh out load as I remember Bart’s expression.

Yesterday afternoon, after Lane unloaded stuff from my car he told me that he saw Bart standing in the back seat of my car as he always did and it was so real to him that he almost said, “Hi Bart.”  I told him that I understood and that Bart had appeared numerous times already in different parts of our home.

Better yet, yesterday Lane went down to Bart’s resting spot and could not believe when suddenly his wedding band appeared amidst the dirt and grass in the area where Bart had been placed.  Lane is 100% positive that Bart pushed the ring to the surface so that it could be found.  I agree with his assessment.

Bart’s presence is felt everywhere and for that I continue to be grateful that he was placed in my life…in our lives. He is just as amazing now as he ever was and is still taking care of us, his family. What an amazingly kind creature and soul.

Bart, I feel you everywhere. Thank you for making this portion of the grieving process easier than I could have ever imagined. The one terrible moment when you left us pales in comparison to the millions of moments we shared then and now. You are the best!! I love you!

Darcy & Angel Bart

The Perfect Love

Good Morning…

I am sure most or some of you know by now that I said Good Bye to my beloved Bart last week. He declined quickly on Thursday at which point we discovered several tumors on his spleen and several on his liver. His stomach was filling with blood, causing him to be severely anemic and preventing his heart from conducting proper pumping.

For the past two weeks he was struggling just to be with me, but he continually found the strength to be by my side. He would muster enough energy to be-bop down to the barn to be with me, where he would climb into a chair I placed in front of a large fan to keep him comfortable.

Bart did not live one moment too long or one moment too short. In true Barty kindness he set this all up so that I would not have to make any other decision but to uphold my promise to him to take care of him to the best of my abilities, which I did. Before he left this world, he was comfortable, he was calm and he knew how much I love him. He still wagged his tail when the vets came in to say good bye. He was true Bart all the way to the end.

I laid with my face to his, giving him kisses and telling him “I Love You” over and over and over and over like I did each day when my daily grind separated us.  Before he moved on, he closed his eyes and absorbed all my love. That moment was about Bart. That moment was about kindness. That moment was about Love in the purest form I will ever know.

After we laid him to rest in a beautiful spot on our farm the Heavens opened up and absolutely poured down on us. I believe many tears were shed for the loss of this incredible soul and the Heavens gained a perfect angel that day.

When I first brought Bart home, I told him that I had one goal for us. This goal had nothing to do with awards, accolades, titles or accomplishments.  I told Bart that my goal was to love him like I had never loved before and to do everything in my power to have him love me more than I had ever been or felt loved. The world and humans are not set up to see perfection in ourselves or others. That is just not the way it is designed. But, to me Bart was Perfect. And, to Bart I was Perfect and I saw it when he looked at me and it felt GREAT!!

For Bart and I, “IT” was a Perfect Love between two souls who were Perfect to each other. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Thank you Bart for allowing me to be Your Person and for being My Dog. You were one in a million and the pain I feel from your absence is well worth the Joy you brought me with your unbridled love, enthusiasm and zest for life that made everyone you met smile. Every day with you was an absolute pleasure filled with smiles and love.  The world is a better place for having you in it and I will be forever grateful that you had the insight to choose me as your forever companion.

Bart, I love you forever!

Darcy