My Best Friend

Today might be the hardest day of my life. My first born son, Bailey Parker Junkin, went to Heaven this morning. He has been losing a lot of weight lately. For a while, he was very much overweight and we tried to get him to lose weight. Then it just happened very rapidly. In the last couple of months he lost his appetite...for dog food. I had to make him a special dinner every night, which in turn tore up his tummy. This weekend, on top of being very skinny, his stomach was very bloated. We spent a lot of time loving on him yesterday afternoon and gave him steak for dinner. He also had some fruit loops. Ü This morning I woke up and made an appointment with the vet. As we sat in the waiting room, I was oddly okay. I knew that in a few minutes, I would have to say goodbye to my best buddy. But when someone you love is in pain, you just have to let go. We met with the vet about 10:20 and he checked him out. He said that he had a heart murmur and he was in a lot of pain. He asked if we wanted to try to do some treatment on him but I told him no, we were ready to let him go. We had our last few minutes with him, loving on him and reassuring him that we'd see him again one day.

Bailey was the best dog anyone could have and the best friend a girl could ever want. I got him in August of 1997 when he was just 6 weeks old. When I went to pick out a puppy, all of his brothers and sisters and his parents were on site. Most of the dogs were running around playing but there was this one that was off to the side digging a hole. I knew, that was the one I had to have. Through his puppy days, he did some very funny things and made me laugh a lot. No matter how bad my day was, I would come home to this amazing little dog that always made me smile. If I was sad, he would crawl in my lap and lick my face and dry my tears.
His favorite things in life were going for puppy walks and puppy rides. He loved getting in the car, but he was always terrified that he was going to the vet. I would take him to Baskin Robbins and buy him ice cream, take him to McDonalds and buy him hamburgers and basically take him anywhere he wanted to go. He loved his mamaw & pop-pop very much. They spoiled him rotten, because after all, he was their first grandchild. When we would go over there, sometimes he would stand at the door when it was time to go as if he was saying "go on mommma, I'm going to stay a while longer". He loved treats too. That boy couldn't get enough treats. Christmas was his favorite holiday. Every year, he would get under the tree days or weeks before Christmas, and get out his gifts and unwrap them. I always knew he could read because he only opened his gifts. HA!!

He also loved his family. He followed me everywhere I went, all of the time. He couldn't walk up the stairs in our house so whenever I was up there, he would sit at the bottom and cry for me. Sometimes he would howl and sing the funniest little tunes to get my attention. He loved his daddy and Peyton too. And of course, he loved his four-legged brother, Barney.
We will all miss our sweet Bailey boy and will think about him always. No other dog will ever fill his shoes.
I love you Bay!!


Bailey Parker Junkin Jones
July 22, 1997 - March 14, 2011