Goodbye Simon

My parents' dog Simon passed away a few days ago. He lived a long, happy life and will be missed by all of us! Just a few days before he died, he had stayed with us while my parents were out of town--so the girls had some good final memories with him. When I told them that Simon died, they both kept repeating, "That is so sad! Oh no! Poor Simon!" Lately they keep weaving his death into their daily conversations and play. Here's some examples:

Larkin was looking at a calendar and we were counting down the days until her birthday. She said, "My birthday is on Thursday, and then I die!" When I asked her why she thought she was going to die, she said that, "Four is very old so I think I'll probably die."

I called my neighbor Susan but she didn't answer. Her car was outside though, so we knew she was home. We were trying to figure out reasons why she didn't answer the phone when Larkin said very nonchalantly, "Maybe she died."

Both girls keep asking how Simon got to Heaven since he can't fly (and they don't think that heaven can float either so they are a bit puzzled over the whole thing).

For a couple of days all the dolls in the house had died of old age. Willa told everyone that, "My doll is dead but she was old, so...it's okay!"