My mom and I took him to the dog park this morning and he had a great time, and met a doggie friend. After 15 minutes, he seemed tired so we headed home. He hopped out of the back of the van just fine.

I left for a meeting, while my mom fed Zevan lunch. Then my mom said that Bart was laying down and whining. Her nurse instincts kicked in. She helped him stand and checked his legs and paws to see if she could find what was bothering him. She didn’t find anything specific. She gave him some aspirin. My dad came home for lunch and Bart would not get up for him.

Bart had similar symptoms one time before when I took him on a 3 mile run with me. He’s been on a daily dose his stroke about 4 years ago. That time, my mom gave him some aspirin and it took him a couple of days to recover.

About 2:15 PM, she left to pick up Zander. They decided to stop and Thorndale to play on their way home. While they were there, my dad came home (around 2:45 PM) and found that Bart had died. He called my mom on her cell to let her know.

My mom and the boys left the park, and when they got there, Zevan ran out of the car and straight to the backyard to check on Bart. I’m not sure if Zander saw him or not.

So meanwhile, I’m working at home. The phone rings. It’s Zander. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something like, “Now our other dog got sick and died.” I was so shocked, I asked him what he was saying. He said it again, a different way, and still I was not able to process what he was telling me. I finally asked him to put my mom on the phone. She was crying and told me about the whining and the aspirin. I said I would be right over.

I had a quick cry and then pulled myself together to call Doug. Bart was “his” dog, and it was so unexpected. I didn’t know what to say, and he answered the phone so cheerfully, I felt awful. Then I told him. “What?!” he asked incredulously. That’s exactly how I reacted when Zander told me. He said he would meet me at my parents house and we could take Bart to the Humane Society for cremation.

After we hung up, I started crying again as I got things together to head over to my parents house. When I got there, the boys were huddled together watching TV. I asked them how they, and they said they were fine, as they craned their heads around me to see the television. I walked back to my parents room and my dad asked accusingly, “What did you do to him?” I know it was his grief talking, but it was still hard to hear.

We went outside to the backyard where Bart was laying. His eyes were open – so I asked my dad to close them. He was going to put Bart in a bag to transport him, but I insisted he wait until Doug got there so Doug could see him NOT in a trash bag.

Doug arrived and saw Bart, then he and my dad put him in the bag – UGH. What an awful feeling – I can only imagine what was going through their heads. Doug and I went to the Humane Society together and the boys stayed with my parents. Ther was a long wait in the waiting room to even be seen, then another long wait as we brought him around to the receiving area. They asked if we wanted his collar, but then when they want to retrieve it, they just told us that we probably didn’t want it and they would take care of it. I don’t even know what he meant, but it seemed ominous so we didn’t even ask for details.

Doug dropped me off at my parents and headed home. I waited with the boys as they ate dinner. They were totally fine. I had cancelled my usual night of climbing and late dinner with the girls, thinking they would need comforting, but they were totally fine.

I decided that I’d rather go out and climb than stay home and be sad.

As we were getting ready to leave, Zander suddenly said, “I want to see Bart!” and ran outside. I followed him, telling him that we already took Bart away. He looked at me and said, “Is Bart dead, for real?” I told him yes. “Aw, man…” was his reaction.

Then, “Bart got really sick and then died fast. That doesn’t happen to people, does it?”

*gulp* “Sometimes. But it doesn’t happen very often.”

Crap, crap, crap. I was so not ready for those questions.

But he was fine with my answers and was ready to go home. The boys were totally fine. So, I went out and worked through my sadness climbing with my girlfriends followed by a night of good food and drinks at Shuga’s.

Goodbye, Bartleby. Say hi to Logan for us. We miss you both, our first boys.