Goodbye Cinnamon

A member of our family died yesterday, and he will be greatly missed. Cinnamon has been a part of our lives since February of 1996, when my kids were just 5 and 2. When we got him, he was so small that I could literally hold him in the palm of my hand and he weighed just over 2 pounds. He was nothing more than a ball of fur back then.

We actually bought Cinnamon because Daniel had an extreme fear of dogs when he was a child, and we thought having a very small dog and letting him grow up with Daniel would help him overcome this fear. It worked. They became best friends. Daniel often had to have Cinnamon sleep in his room, and even in the last year or so we would find the dog "missing" and discover that Daniel had him up in his room. He almost never left the house without going in to see Cinnamon and tell him goodbye.

Ashley loved the dog too, but she treated him pretty much as if he were human. She was always sure to see to it that Cinnamon had a stocking hanging at Christmas time and that he got presents too. I can remember making a special trip out on Christmas Eve because because Ashley did not feel Cinnamon had enough presents, so we would have to go get him another toy and some treats. She never treated him like a dog... he was her brother. When Cinnamon was hurting and confused as he was dying last night, he came to the feet of Ashley and she picked him up and held him as he breathed his last few breaths.

As close as Cinnamon was to our kids, we always said he was Libby's dog. Cinnamon always was her protector. When a visitor entered our house, Cinnamon would alway position himself between Libby and "the intruder" until he knew that everything was OK and the guest was welcome. Even then, he would sit or lay at her feet. Every time Libby left a room, Cinnamon got up and went with her. If she went to the bathroom, he would lay outside the door until she came out. When she went upstairs, he would position himself in the middle room of the house where he could see both stairwells and he would watch for her to come back down. He actually would listen and if he heard her go from the front of the house to the back he would move toward that stairwell. It was funny to just sit and watch him as he would get so excited waiting for her. In the afternoons, he somehow knew what time she would be getting home and he would come close to the door and wait for her to arrive. He even knew the sound of the van and when he heard it turn into the driveway he would jump up all excited and dance around in anticipation of her coming in the door.

Yeah, we loved that dog. He was more than a dog... he was family. And he is going to be missed more than words can say.
Goodbye my friend.