Today we said our final goodbye to sweet Minnie. It was hard. Earlier in the week we made the decision to have Minnie cremated. I knew that's what I wanted to have done so I could bury her in my parents' backyard with my childhood dachshund Greta, but having to actually say it aloud at the vet's office was hard. In fact, this past Monday was my first time back at their office since that horrible night. I thought all my tears were gone, but I was wrong. The vet tech cried with me.

Also? Having to pay a bill for an after-hours emergency surgery is not so fun. But, like my mom keeps reminding me, Minnie was worth every penny and then some to me, and I'd pay it all again if she could still be here.

My mom picked up Minnie's remains on Thursday and I decided we'd bury her today after church. Here's the headstone on Greta's grave. She was buried in 2003 and my dad scratched her name into this stone. The wrought-iron fence didn't exist when she was buried, but now it runs right over her grave. I think that's good because no one can step on her.

Immediately after church we picked out a stone from my mom's flower bed. I got to work etching Minnie's name on it using a dremel and a nail.

It looks ok for now, but I may try to work on it again another day to make the letters deeper. I don't want them to wear away too soon.

My dad dug the hole while my mom, Doc, and I watched. I decided to put her new collar in the grave with her. We placed her headstone right under the fence.

In this picture you can see how she and Greta are right next to each other. I like to think they're friends in Heaven.

So that's my little girl's final resting place. It makes me happy to know she'll always sorta be at my parents' home with us, but even more so that she's free of pain and running and jumping and playing in Heaven.