My beautiful Cocker Spaniel of nearly 16 years joined the angels two weeks ago on September 11th. Mia was my soul mate, my best friend, and my angel … so losing her has been very difficult.
The evening of September 12th, I had been mourning the loss of Mia right before putting my two daughters to bed. Teary-eyed, I stood in their bedroom as they got ready to crawl into their beds.
“Mom, you don’t have to cry,” my eight-year-old said.
“Hmmm?” I answered.
“Look,” she responded, picking up a book from nearby. She flipped to the last page in the book and held it open for me to see. “Read this.”
I looked at the quote on the last page of the book. It read, “Don’t be sad that it’s over. Be happy that it happened.” My heart melted. I looked at my eight-year-old and saw her in a new light. I’ve always known she has a very good heart, but this just proved it even more.
“Here,” she said. “Take this book and read it tonight.”
I took the book from her hands and looked at it. I knew the book well, as I had read it to her and her sister quite a few times. It was about a second-grade-classroom’s pet hamster. He eventually dies and the children are sad. The teacher reminds them of this quote. It’s a very cute book.
“Thank you, sweetie,” I replied.
My daughter crawled up into her bed. “You know what that means, Mom?”
“What?” I asked.
“It means don’t be sad that Mia died. Be happy that you had Mia. Be happy she was yours.”
Again, my heart melted. How did I get so lucky as to be blessed with such a sweet little girl? I gave her a big hug.
“You’re right. I am very happy that I had Mia. I just wish I still had her, that’s all,” I said.
And that was that.
Since losing Mia, crying has become a daily event for me. I break down at least once a day. I try to cry alone when no one else is around, but my eight-year-old always seems to know. Again, she surprised me with her incredible thoughtfulness. One evening, I was reading something in the kitchen when she walked by and dropped something onto the magazine I was reading: a note card. I picked it up and read what she had written:
“Be happy that it happened. Don’t cry. Reminder!”
I smiled. All I can say to that is … wow. 
