Against the advice of many wise people, we are getting a new puppy on Thursday. Jenny died less than two months ago and to many, this sounds too soon. Many others though, have told us that we’ll know when the time is right to bring a dog back in to our lives. Our house has been so quiet, we have taken such few walks and we have missed having a canine friend among us.

Caroline has probably had the hardest time with the loss of Jenny. Not openly though. She can not and will not talk about it. I was so sad when Jenny died that I think my sadness scared Caroline more than the loss of the dog that welcomed her home from the hospital. Until just a few days ago, she wasn’t able to talk about Jenny at all.

Now though, as we talk about welcoming a new dog into our family, we are all talking about Jenny again. We are telling stories about how we found her and what her first days with us were like. We are thinking back to all the annoying things she did and promising we will not let the new puppy develop those habits. We are talking about her and loving her all over again.

And we are missing her. Katherine is not outwardly saying much about missing Jenny but as often happens, her questions are letting us know what she’s thinking.

She woke up early this morning, walking into our room, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Mommy,” she said, “I have a question about dogs. Who’s the longest living dog in the world?”