It's been a while

It's been a while since we last posted. I just noticed that the last post was from Friday, April 10th. "Good Friday". That was the day that Chandler (Riley's older brother) was in the hospital for his first of two major surgeries to try and remove the cancer that ravaged his body. It's been a hellish 2 months since then and our focus has been, understandably, on Chandler. Sometimes to the lack of attention on things like this blog about out little man, Riley.

Riley is nearly 10 months old and he's HUGE! His coat is really coming in all curly and wavy which is very odd for a Cavalier, but it's just like Chandler's was. I say was because, sadly, Chandler passed away last night at 4:46 pm. He lost his battle with Cancer and is now resting and at peace. Obviously, we're all very sad and we miss him so terribly. And we realize that this is so fresh and we're still in shock... I'm sure there's much more sadness and grieving to come. Even Riley has been a bit down today:



We're more grateful now than ever for Sir Riley, Lord of Essex. Of course he brings joy to our lives each day. But a big part of our consideration in bringing him into our family last fall was that a) we didn't want to face a situation where, with 2 older dogs, we would go from two to one and b) we wanted Riley to have time to really know Chandler and Phoebe and to take on aspects of their amazing personalities. And take it on he has.

Riley is a big chewer. Loves his chew toys and he is the only dog in 11 years who can outwit Phoebe for her chew toys. He loves to run and chase like her, too. And, like his older brother Chandler, he loves to lick, give kisses, and loves to be with you, preferably on your lap. He has Chandler's intelligence and calm nature, too. And, of course, like Chandler he's such a handsome boy!

So we're all feeling sad today and missing our Chan-man. But what's great is that he'll not only live on in spirit with us in our hearts and in our memories. Parts of him are very much alive in Riley and it's amazing to know that we'll have that to console us for years to come.