The call came at 11:00AM on Tuesday. “Hey man, not good news…” My heart dropped. “Frank’s body is full of cancer. It’s not good.” “How long does he have?” I asked. “A couple days…” Tears filled my eyes and I didn’t care.

We got Franklin the week after our honeymoon so he’s always been part of the Ruman house. As Lisa says “He’s is our first baby boy.”

Frank has had his brushes with death.

When Frank was a puppy we kept him in our bathroom at night (if we let run loose he would have torn the house apart, we know, we learned the hard way).

One morning I went to let Frank out. When I opened the door I saw the floor, covered in Tylenol pills. The dang dog had gotten into the medicine cabinet and got into our (Sam’s Club size) Tylenol bottle. We thought we were going to have a dead dog that day. But, a little gas was all that came from that.

We have a ton of memories with Frank. Taking him swimming at the cottage, hiking, driving, playing with the kids. Thankfully we take a lot of pictures, and a lot of videos.

Here’s one recent memory.

Franklin didn’t last a couple more days. We knew that night that we was fading away. He crawled into bed with us about 3AM and laid his head on my stomach. I didn’t sleep that night knowing what the morning had in mind for us.

The ride to the vet was rough. Franklin loved going for rides. He would bounce around like a kangaroo whenever the word was mentioned. Little did Frank know he wouldn’t be returning with us after that ride.

Saying goodbye sucks. I mean it really sucks. Frank was only 7 years old.

I didn’t want to leave the vet that day. And even after we did leave I wanted to sneak back in and kidnap Frank and take him hiking. But, I know what was best for him. He needed to be relieved of the pain his body was it.

Is Frank in heaven? I think he is. I think God knows how much some of the animals he made mean to us and wants us to be happy. Is that biblical? No, but, it’s what helps get though the pain.

I see Frank running though fields, peeing on every bush he meets. I see him playing with other dogs going on adventures together. And every once in a while I see him stop and listen for ‘ride!’ as he goes in circles to jump in the car with us.

Goodbye Franklin. You are missed.