My Heart Is Sore and Sad.

That Nice Boy I Married got up today to discover that Nick the Pug had died overnight. He had been doing so well since his last surgery, full of energy, just tearing around the place. Yesterday he asked to go out and run around the yard at least a dozen times.

But overnight his stoma -- the hole in his throat he was breathing through -- clogged with mucus, and he suffocated. I'm so sad I can barely comprehend it. I keep looking for him everywhere, listening for his clicky little toes on the hardwood floors, waiting for him to come and put his front feet up on my chair, asking to be picked up and cuddled.

He was the most loving creature I've ever known. Never met a stranger, instantly and totally enthusiastic about everything and everyone.

I can barely comprehend that he's gone.