I never understood why people would post about the loss of a dog, until now.
The pain of driving to the vet is measurable, I was going to say immeasurable, but no this is a pain that can be defined. One would compare it to the heartache of a lost favorite toy as a child, a sharp searing pain in one's gut as you desperately search for your missing thing. However this ...toy....looks at you with soulful brown eyes and listens to you as you explain to her what your plans are, what is laying heavy on your heart, and just general unloading. She was a playmate, a warning of the always dreaded squirrel, the guard when you have a poorly placed shot that did not fold up the raccoon inhabiting your shop, and the happy to just lay at your feet companion when you are sitting in the back forty enjoying a beer.
A tireless stick or ball retriever, happiest when frollicing in the water, laying her head on your lap insisting on one more scratch behind her ears, and gently insisting that it is time to go outside and find those dreaded squirrels.
That my friends is what Midnight was, a replacement will come along, will not be named Midnight but will probably be a Lab.
I am gonna miss her.