The story of Lincoln's goodbye - warning I'm crying as I post - you might too - feel free to just skip it

As you know, Lincoln had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Lincoln was having a strange "bubbly" noise sometimes while he was breathing, but was still quite content - not breathing fast or having a fast heart rate or looking like he was stressed at all. We dropped him off at my parents' house at the lake and he had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving (and we had a wonderful time with Andy's family in Dalton.) They said he was doing great while we were gone. We stopped by my parents' to hang out a little while and pick him up on the way home. He couldn't quite get comfortable, but still wasn't breathing hard or looking stressed. We came home and he ran out to the backyard to check everything out and bark - continuously for over an hour. When we finally called him in for the night, he couldn't quite catch his breath and was panting and breathing kind of hard, he was very restless and was getting more frantic. I gave him some of the narcotic cough suppressant thinking it might help him relax. A while later I ended up taking him to the emergency vet (Carolina Vet Specialists - emergency - highly recommended) to see if they could give him anymore medicine to help with his anxiety (which in dogs causes panting, which means he can't catch his breath, which causes anxiety and the cycle worsens.) My wonderful parents came over to watch Will so Andy could meet me there if he needed to...but Lincoln was pleased to go on a car ride and by the time we were there, he'd stopped panting and looked quite comfortable again, but I went ahead and took him in - especially since the vet that was there was Dr. Smith (who I love - he's the one that helped take care of Ike too.) We discussed it and he gave me some new medicines we could try to help with his breathing (kind of like what you'd use for asthma in people) and really calmed me down and comforted me about the situation. Linky did very well Sunday and had an okay day on Monday. Monday night he had a lovely time out barking again, but once again couldn't catch his breath when he came in. I took him back to the vet and Dr. Davis (who I now love as well) gave him some IV medicines to help him relax and sent some more home with me in case he woke up and was stressed again. He woke up breathing hard, but didn't seem stressed about it. We had a good day puttering around, but started thinking about whether he'd have anymore happiness in the next couple weeks that he'd never experienced before in his great life or whether the stress of his "can't catch his breath" moments were too upsetting for him. We eventually decided to give him a day filled with as much of his favorite things that we could, then help him let go rather than suffer through the anxiety anymore. We did lots of cuddling and got him a delicious hamburger to eat and took him for a really long car ride - that he loved. He had his head out the window sniffing the whole time - really taking in the joy of the moment. Then took him back to the vet. Dr Davis was there again and was super kind and organized and as smooth as possible as we cuddled one our first "children" and tearfully said goodbye. It's been very hard adjusting to life without a dog. We've had some very kind friends that have let us borrow theirs to help Will (and me) ease into the transition. We told Will as best we could, but he didn't really seem to get it and would walk through the house calling for Lincoln. It's been really hard to hear that too and have to keep reminding him that Lincoln is gone and can't come back, but that he's happy in Heaven where his is now. We also have a book that we've read a couple times about Dog Heaven that one of our great friends gave us when my parents' (and my childhood) dog died a few years ago that I think helped give him an understanding of what Heaven is and that it's a good place. Will's still having some separation anxiety I think. He's really cried a couple times when we were putting him to bed, but seems to be okay with some extra cuddling. Some prayers for all of us would be appreciated though. While we miss him terribly, we are so thankful for the time we got with Lincoln.