Tyson McGee

As a child, I never had a pet.  I remember begging for one for one and my mom never gave in.  She would say, "When you grow up and have a home of your own, you can get whatever pet you want."  That is exactly what I did.  When I moved out of my parents house into my own, I got Tyson.  He was the sweetest little Maltese/Poodle mix.  He was born on the one year anniversary of 9/11 which I thought was super cool.  I moved into my house in October and Tyson was the first thing I brought into it, he was just old enough to be weened from his mama.  In a way, we grew up together.  I took him everywhere with me.  He was my very first symbol of adulthood. 

Tyson and I have been through everything together.  He saw me through a broken engagement, the blossoming of a new love, adopting a brother for him (Tony), marriage, miscarriages, Taelyn and Trent. getting mauled by our neighbor's dog and many, many more life events.  Tyson was loyal, loving and just plain wonderful.  I loved him, I loved him more than I even knew myself. 

Late on April 18th, Tyson was acting strange, falling over and having what looked like seizures.  I took him into the animal ER and they told me he was having Cardio Syncopy.  His heart was failing and we could attempt surgery, but because he was nearly 15 years old, he had a low chance of surviving the anesthesia and an even lower chance of surviving the surgery.  The vet said he was in a lot of pain.  He was suffering, so we made the tough decision to let him go.  I called Todd and he woke the kids up and brought them to the ER so we could all say our final goodbyes. 

Saying Goodbye to my boy was hard.  It hurt.  A LOT.  Watching Taelyn and Trent cry and hug him and tell him that they love him was HARD. 

Our last family picture together

Taelyn was really sad and cried the entire time. Trent was excited for him because, "He gets to be with Jesus!"

He was so LOVED!!!

Our final hug

Tyson McGee DiMillo 9/11/-2-4/18/17

It has been almost 4 months since we lost Tyson and it has gotten easier, but I think about him every single day.  I used to think people who lost their pets were silly for being so upset when they lost them, but now that I have had my first pet and lost my first pet, I can say, it is NOT silly, they become family, you love them just like family, when they are gone, you mourn them, just like family because the ARE FAMILY.  He was a fixture in my life for almost 15 years, he's gone and I miss him!