Mia Paulsen

Life isn’t fair. All too often we find ourselves in a place we don’t think we should be. We get lost, trying to undo the steps we’ve taken, trying to figure out what life would look like, had we only known then, what we know now.

My family brought Mia home on June 20th, 2019. Even at 7 weeks old, she was smart, she was curious and boy was she confident, but most of all, she was loving, and loyal. That love and loyalty to us only grew as the months with her went on, as well as her intelligence and natural abilities as a hunting companion for my Dad. She became a fully grown, fully trained, perfect little Lab, and we loved her so deeply.
On the night of October 11th, 2020, Mia went to sleep after a long, fun day of play with her family. She was happy, she was healthy, she was beautiful ~ but for reasons we do not know, she did not wake up the morning of October 12th. When we said goodbye to her, it was clear she left peacefully, because her little face was sweet and content, like she was amidst a good dream. Even at the end, she was happy, she was beautiful, she was perfect.
Now we are left to wonder what happened to our 1 year old Lab, and why. We are hopeful over the course of the next few weeks, the veterinarians at the U of M will be able to provide us some answers on what went wrong in her body, but understanding why she was taken from us, is something we will probably never grasp.

Like I said, life isn’t fair. All too often, we don’t get to know why we end up in the circumstances we do. Sometimes we don’t get closure, and sometimes we can’t make all the pieces of the puzzle fit.

To my little Mia ~ I loved you so incredibly much from the day I met you. Our bond was special, and it was instant, I wish we could have had so much more time together. I have to assume God needed you for something more important, so although my heart is in pieces from missing your constant grin and wiggly butt, I’m trying so hard to be grateful for the joy, the love and the memories you brought to my life in the short time we had.

Rest In Peace, baby girl.