A difficult anniversary

 Today is a tough day. It's the seventh anniversary of a double bereavement. Within the same 2:00 PM hour on this date in 2013, we lost both my beloved mother-in-law and my first dog, my little Chihuahua known as Mini the Wee.

We were at the veterinary ER finding out that Mini was in kidney failure, with no real treatment options, when my sister-in-law called to tell us that my mother-in-law, who had been in hospice care since earlier in the week, had passed away peacefully. Shortly after that, we assisted Mini to the Rainbow Bridge.

And it felt like being hit by one semi truck, and being thrown right into the path of a second semi and hit again.

The world shrank when my MIL left it. I am so thankful that she was completely unlike all the stereotypes of harridan mother-in-laws; I was fortunate enough to have one of the nicest people who ever walked the earth as a mother-in-law.

She is with my father-in-law, who had passed 13 months earlier, a few weeks before what would have been their 65th wedding anniversary. So it's a consolation that we have a couple of patron saints up there keeping an eye on things.

And I also still miss my Tiny Dog. Mini was a little sweetheart, the absolute perfect first dog.

So today is a tough day.