8.5

You are a wonderfully silly kid. You absolutely love sports (playing and watching), animals, Phineas and Ferb, math and your sister (yep!). You are sugar crazy, you get absolutely anything you want from your mom with just a little whine or sticking your bottom lip out, and you have constant energy all day until you crash at night. Every parent says this I am sure, but you are also incredibly smart. You educate us on animals all the time and you ask thought provoking questions that an adult would be intelligent to ask (you asked us the other night if the different galaxies will ever collide, and if they do what will happen). You are well mannered, very thoughtful and sensitive, and can be a bit of a cry baby. All things considered you are an incredible son.

Layla

On January 3rd of this year I had to put Layla down. She was nearly 12 1/2 years old when it happened – and it was honestly the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

I wrote this uniquely for you, but I did copy some of the factual data (dates, ages, my experience) from your sister's site.

You were late tot he game with Layla but still had a solid 8 years with her. Once you got to be 6 or so you started to bond with her, play with her and even take her on walks. You were always so sweet with her as you a sensitive kid and you just loved on her. You always wanted to throw the ball for her, and would lay with her a lot of times and just talk to her. When she would come camping with us you were always the first to make sure she was comfortable and had her water. You also loved that she could swim, and would frequently ask if we could take her to the river.

She lived an incredible life. We met her when she was 4 weeks old (well before you were born) and took her home at 8 weeks. By the time you came around she was already 4 years old. When you were a baby she didn’t really know what to do with you, and it really took until you were older to really bond with her, but you sure did it. The amount of memories I have of her are too many to count, and with the exception of the scary moments when she was hurt or scared (or she wouldn’t let her tennis ball go in the river and I had to jump in after her) they were all amazing. But my favorite memories were of you and her. You loved her so much which just made my heart so full when she was around, and ache so badly when we had to let her go.

The only good part about it was the decision was made easy for us. She developed bone cancer and lost the use of her back left leg. She still had a smile, but her energy was sapped and she basically just laid around all day. This happened on a Sunday while we were in Sun Valley, and I thought maybe she had just pulled a muscle or something. On Tuesday when we got back I took her to the vet and they gave me the news, that she had bone cancer and the only option was to amputate the leg and begin radiation. At her age the chances of her surviving the surgery were minimal, and the thought of her losing a leg meant she would be living a terrible life. The only good thing was that we got a few more days with her after the diagnosis. Telling you was the hardest news I have ever had to deliver. I made the appointment for that Friday to put her down, so we did get 3 days with her. On that Friday it was scheduled for 10am, and around 9:30 you had to say goodbye. We all cried and gave her all the love we could. You, mom and Harper stayed at the house and I took her in. They made her incredibly comfortable, gave her the medicine, and she drifted off peacefully as I held her. I stayed in that room and cried as hard as I ever had.

When I told you that we were going to have to put Layla down you cried so hard. This was the first death that you had experienced and it hit you hard. For weeks after you would comment on how you missed her whenever we would get home and she wasn't there waiting for us. You would ask questions about where she went and make up stories about what she might be doing. You cope with things well though, and if nothing else you learned the value of what joy a dog can bring.

There is just something about a dog. There was never a day that I came home where she wasn’t waiting for me at the door and excited to see me. There was never a day when she was mad at me, judged me, questioned me, criticized me or did anything other than love me above everything else. She got me through so many tough times, where she could just sense something was wrong and would come sit at my feet or snuggle up next to me. She was my best friend in the world, and life is less without her. It has been months and I am still crying as I write this and look at a picture I have of her on my mantle in my office. I don’t regret getting her and having the time I did with her – but I genuinely miss her every single day and life is not the same without her. I am so grateful for the time I had with her and the joy she brought into all our lives. I know we will get another dog, but none will ever live up to Layla. I am just so happy that you got the time with her that you did.

Firefighter Birthday Party

You got to have a pretty badass birthday party this year. Your mom and I bought an auction item as your school's annual fundraiser that came with a birthday party with you and your friends at the fire station. The fire captain is a dad at your school and put it on. You got to do a ton of very cool activities (just think everything you would want to do at a fire station). Check out the pics below, but this one will be hard to top.

Christmas tree

We started the Donegan Family Christmas Tree tradition for real this year (you will get the reference when you read this as I have made you to this point watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation at least 100 times, so when you read this it will be like 10x that). We did it last year but this year with much more intent. We went out and got a tag in Idaho City, then went another maybe 45 minutes and found a turn off the highway and went looking for a tree. Eventually (and I say eventually because you know your mom and how hard decisions are for her) we found the right tree and you helped me chop it down. Was a pretty cool experience and one we will do from here on out.

Sports

You had your best flag season yet this spring. You scored at least one touchdown in every game, and scored two in most. You played running back most of the time and wide receiver some of the time. You guys went to the super bowl and you had two rushing touchdowns and a pick 6 as well. It was so much fun to watch you. Football is your favorite sport to play and watch right now. You are in the 7/8 age group this year and next season will move up to 8/9, so will see if you get served a little humble pie. BONUS: there is a pic below of your forehead. I was at practice with you recently and you were running plays and collided with another player. You took a tooth to the head and he lost a tooth in the process. He went with his mom home crying, but you wouldn't stop. You took a few minutes on the sideline and got so water and I got you some ice, and after a few minutes got right back in there. I may have waited to tell your mom until we got home :). It wouldn't have mattered to me if you stopped playing and wanted to go home, but I have to say I was really proud that you shook it off and got back in. You are a resilient little dude.

You also made some real progress in baseball, this being the first season where you were facing live pitching from players on the other teams. It took a bit for you to get the hang of it, but you started hitting pretty well about 3/4 of the way through the season. Your season culminated in the playoffs in a game against the best team who was undefeated, where if you won you would go to the championship. You came up with two runners on and down by 2 in the top of the last inning. You got a ball over the plate and drove it over the shortstop's head. The first run scored and the second runner ran through the third base coach stopping him and scored as well and you ended up on second. The crowd erupted, and I had never seen you beam like that before. In the bottom of the inning the other team got bases loaded and then you guys got two outs on them, only to have the next batter get plucked and the winning run for them came in. You lost the game and was devastated. There is very little consoling you after a loss even when you had a good game - you absolutely hate to lose. I was bummed about the loss but was far more excited about you and your hit. Also that it seemed like you had that moment where you fell in love with the game. I can't wait to watch you more as you improve over the coming years.

Wrap-Up

The pictures below sum you up nicely. It's so much fun having you around, and feel lucky every day to have such a fun son to hang out with. I try to be aware enough to enjoy these moments in the moment, and there are just so many that it makes life so fun and brings me so much joy. I love you buddy.

I love you more than all the world

Love, Dad