ficulty getting through the day. This faithful dog had helped raise our daughters. She had spent her whole life walking with me to pick up the girls from school, providing comfort for hurt feelings, and celebrating milestones with her own place at the table, literally. She was the epitome of love: patient, kind, loyal, and always giving. To quote my husband, she was the heart of our family for fourteen years. When our vet agreed that Luna’s struggle should come to an end, we summoned the girls and asked them to be brave. Luna’s last night on Earth was solemnized with her own baked salmon filet and a sleepover in the den with the girls. I had a hard time getting to sleep that night and kept peeking into the den for one last memory of a mix of girl limbs with dog legs and the rhythmic breathing of deep sleep. The next day I met everyone at the vet’s office after school. I was feeling fairly stoic until I pulled into the parking lot and saw my daughter walking Luna around in the grass and my husband standing next to them wearing the Life Shirt. We all went inside together, laid hands on our precious girl, and whispered our love into her soul. When she was at peace, the Life Shirt absorbed our tears.
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Again, I’m grateful to have a husband who honors family moments with an outward sign of their weight. Our children already know when their father is especially proud, exuberant, or in grief, but when he dons the cringey plaid, it signals to them that such times are worth acknowledging and the accompanying feelings worth expressing. They say that clothes make the man, but in my case, it’s the man who makes the shirt. AM Spring 2022 AZALEAMAG.COM
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