CG, that's a great gesture from your vet. I'm sure you've been going to him/her for a long time, but it helps knowing he's with you in your grief and and that you're not just another customer.
He's a great guy, and the vets he hires are also great. He now has 2 hospitals, and the one down the street from us is open from 6:30 AM to 8:30 PM, with no appointment necessary, and it has at least 8 vets in attendance. Both of our kids worked for him during the school years.
We couldn't bury Emmy yesterday. The ground is just too hard, and we could not get deeper than about 4". I had my buddy come over with his backhoe, and even he had some problems digging the hole with it (it was white Illinois clay), but she's buried now. We lucked out with the rain, too. It was forecast last night and this morning, and there was not even a drop of rain. Now it can pour, and that will help to settle the ground at the grave. Latest forecast calls for rain from today through Tuesday, although it's still sunny out there now. Vic will come back with his skidsteer later this fall to finish a big drainage project in our back 40, and he'll dress up the grave at the same time.
He also bought a house about 1/2 block from us, which he is rehabbing. So I don't have to worry about big snowfalls either, since he and his machine will help us with our snowplowing.
Thank God for Victor and his machines! He also digs the graves for his Lutheran church. He's a member of my American Legion post.
