Hi Kristin, first off, I am very sorry for your loss.
I have lost two golden boys to cancer also and it was not easy with any of them. After my first golden died, I thought I would die. He was only 5 1/2 years old. What tore me out of my sadness, was getting another golden puppy a month later. He was totally different from the other golden and I bonded even closer with him and I had him for 12 1/2 years. When he died, I was devastated again, but since I had been through a loss before, it was just a little bit easier to cope.
About three months after losing Sam, I adopted a black lab mix from a kill shelter. The lab mix was 10 months already and he was soo different and I kept comparing him to my golden and he did not measure up at the time. He was young, he was untrained and destructive. I was not sure if I had done the right thing, even though I really wanted this dog. I had a talk with my older sister and she said to me: 'I think you feel like you are betraying Sam if you love this new dog "Thunder". It is okay to love again and of course he is different than Sam.' You know, that really helped. That was exactly how I felt. I felt like I was betraying Sam. It was like a burden was lifted off my shoulders and my heart and I loved Thunder and stopped comparing him to Sam. Thunder is now almost 11 years old and such a good boy, I am sooo glad, that I adopted him.
Two years after adopting Thunder, I got a 7 1/2 week old golden retriever puppy "Toby". Toby also looked totally different than Sam. Toby is light golden and Sam was medium golden. At the time, I had also looked for a golden that looked just like Sam. But when I saw Toby, it was mutual love at first sight and I feel like Sam guided me. So, you see, when you see the dog that was ment for you, it does not matter what he looks like. You just know: that is the one for you.
Toby and Sam are related, Toby is Sam's nephew. As Toby is getting older, I can see some of the same facial expressions, but Toby is still different and you know what? I think I bonded with Toby even more and deeper than with Sam if that is at all possible. As wonderful as that is, it also scares the heck out of me. I really don't know what happens if I lost Toby. Especially lately, I have been through so much with Toby. He had a TPLO on his right knee in October and FHO on his left hip in December. He is just my baby, he will turn 9 years this year. Very very scary.
But, you see, it is okay to love another dog, another golden again. The golden you lost, is always in your heart, nothing can take that away from you.
I still think a lot about both goldens I lost and I remember their little quirks and how much they added to my life. I would not have missed that for the world and I know they had a happy life with me and they want me to be happy.
You have so much more love to give and why not share it with another golden, whether it is a pup or an adult. They are sooooooo worth it!
I have lost two golden boys to cancer also and it was not easy with any of them. After my first golden died, I thought I would die. He was only 5 1/2 years old. What tore me out of my sadness, was getting another golden puppy a month later. He was totally different from the other golden and I bonded even closer with him and I had him for 12 1/2 years. When he died, I was devastated again, but since I had been through a loss before, it was just a little bit easier to cope.
About three months after losing Sam, I adopted a black lab mix from a kill shelter. The lab mix was 10 months already and he was soo different and I kept comparing him to my golden and he did not measure up at the time. He was young, he was untrained and destructive. I was not sure if I had done the right thing, even though I really wanted this dog. I had a talk with my older sister and she said to me: 'I think you feel like you are betraying Sam if you love this new dog "Thunder". It is okay to love again and of course he is different than Sam.' You know, that really helped. That was exactly how I felt. I felt like I was betraying Sam. It was like a burden was lifted off my shoulders and my heart and I loved Thunder and stopped comparing him to Sam. Thunder is now almost 11 years old and such a good boy, I am sooo glad, that I adopted him.
Two years after adopting Thunder, I got a 7 1/2 week old golden retriever puppy "Toby". Toby also looked totally different than Sam. Toby is light golden and Sam was medium golden. At the time, I had also looked for a golden that looked just like Sam. But when I saw Toby, it was mutual love at first sight and I feel like Sam guided me. So, you see, when you see the dog that was ment for you, it does not matter what he looks like. You just know: that is the one for you.
Toby and Sam are related, Toby is Sam's nephew. As Toby is getting older, I can see some of the same facial expressions, but Toby is still different and you know what? I think I bonded with Toby even more and deeper than with Sam if that is at all possible. As wonderful as that is, it also scares the heck out of me. I really don't know what happens if I lost Toby. Especially lately, I have been through so much with Toby. He had a TPLO on his right knee in October and FHO on his left hip in December. He is just my baby, he will turn 9 years this year. Very very scary.
But, you see, it is okay to love another dog, another golden again. The golden you lost, is always in your heart, nothing can take that away from you.
I still think a lot about both goldens I lost and I remember their little quirks and how much they added to my life. I would not have missed that for the world and I know they had a happy life with me and they want me to be happy.
You have so much more love to give and why not share it with another golden, whether it is a pup or an adult. They are sooooooo worth it!