Goodbye Best Friend....

I know this post has nothing to do with triathlons or even Shawn's surgery, but it is something that I am going through, and I just had to sit down and write out my thoughts.

Today, we had to go to the vet and have my best friend, Sebastian, put to sleep because of chronic uninary tract infection and Cushing's Disease. He also started to get bumps on his body much like a wart that would get infected and rather painful. The selfish part of me kept telling me that he was healthy and we really did not need to do it, but the humane part of me eventually took over and said that I never wanted my little buddy to suffer. It was hard, but it was time. He went gracefully to sleep and said "Goodbye," to this world only to go to a better place.

Sebastian Sierra (Bubba) Murphy lived 14 amazing years. I got him when he was around 6 or 8 weeks old. He immediately stood out to me because of his unique and beautiful color. Because he was born near St. Augustine, FL and the San Sebastian River, I felt the name was perfect for him. He was with me before I met Rachel, but quickly adopted her as his mother and they would go for daily walks. I think he loved her more than me sometimes because he used to lay on her instead of me. One time Rachel and I were playing around and Sebastian started growling at me to leave her alone.

Sebastian was obsessed with the game fetch and I have to admit, I was fine with that. I used to love throwing the stick until my arm got so sore that I could not throw it anymore. His nose was amazing. He would only get the stick that you threw and would not give up till he found it. I always said that you could throw a stick in a pile of sticks and he would bring the right one back. Fetching nearly cost him is life early one time because of his second love, swimming. We went out to Lake Lewisville, near Dallas, to hang out with friends. Rachel and I were throwing a stick in the water and he would swim out to get it and swim back. Finally he came over to me in complete exaustion and collapsed. We immediately took him to the vet and found out that he had over hydrated himself from drinking all the lake water. It was a scare, but the next day I brought him home and he immediately went into the back yard and brought me a stick. Crazy Dog!

I learned a lot from Sebastian, but the thing that I am thankful for the most was how he taught me the definition of unconditional love. It would not matter if I was in a good mood, bad mood, if he was hungry, thristy, needed to go outside, or feeling bad. He was always there to lick my face and show his love to me. He just wanted to be near us and would follow us all over the house all the time. It broke his heart when he would do something wrong or drive us crazy from following us and we told him to go to his bed. Of course he would soon forget about it as soon as we called him over to us. He was ready to lick our face again.

Sebastian immediately shared his love with Shawn when he was born and was always nearby. I remember when Shawn was sleeping as an infant, Sebastian would sit under his swing, by his bassonett or at his door on guard just to make sure that Shawn was safe. Even as Shawn was getting older and started exploring, Sebastian was so patient with Shawn. I remember one time when Shawn kept pulling Sebastian's long fluffy ears and he just let Shawn do it while looking at me with those, "He doesn't know," eyes.

Sebastian will be trully missed by this family, and in reality, I don't know when we will ever be able to get another dog. Even if we did, he would never be able to be replaced in our hearts.

We love you Bubba! We will miss you!