Good-Bye David

This was a rough turn-in. 

Not going to lie. 

My alarm went off at 5:53AM and I couldn't fall back asleep. 

I tried, but the there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

I heard David stir in the other room, his tags jingled as he walked into check on the status of those in my room. Satisfied we were sleep, he strode back out. Have you ever seen a lion pacing in a zoo? That's how David moves. I tried not to think too hard about all the "lasts" I was experiencing. 

Our morning proceed as normally as a morning with five dogs can. 

I tripled check my "IFT to-do list" making sure David had all of the proper documents he needed to travel; loaded up my bag for the puppies (As they would be accompanying me to work) and headed out to get all three pups in the car. 

You can imagine my surprise to walk around the corner, arm full of puppy and see this: 

I really wasn't expecting to see a cow (calf) in my front yard! Coralling the brave puppies who wanted to tell the cow what was UP... (or down in this case) I managed to get all three in the car without any mishaps. David really wanted to get some real life cow dog exposure, but I had to remind he's a SHEEP dog, not a CATTLE dog. No wait. A GUIDE DOG IN TRAINING.

We arrived at the airport all too soon, and I wasted a lot of time wandering on the grounds, as I was loathe to go in. I did attempt to see if I could go through to the gate area, but was denied. So we sat.
TYS has a nice soothing fountain in their waiting area, but it didn't help much. Once I got the call his attendent was on the ground, the tears started flowing.

It was a quick hand off, as she needed to get back in the security line, so she could catch her flight back to NY. I handed him off and walked away quickly, after a final hug.

Being a glutton for pain, once I reached the bathrooms, I turned around one last time to see how he was doing. He was facing backwards, looking down the hallway looking, looking, looking.

I turned and sprinted for the exits at that point.

Unfortunately the problem with heartbreak is that life, doesn't wait around for that. As soon as I got back to the car I had to check on the puppies, take them to go potty, and head into work. The rest of the day progressed with little time to stop and think about David and where he was or was not.

I got a text around 4pm letting me know he'd arrived safely and was on his way back to the Foundation.

And now we wait. 

I know what you're thinking and before you even ask... the answer is ... I don't know. I want to take a break, but am currently fostering two puppies (yeah those pups in the previous post? Are now "mine" more on that later) . The thought of getting ANOTHER PUPPY right now makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and cry.

But I'm pretty sure it will happen sooner than later, you know me. :)