My husband and I used to have a lovely setter named Paddy who was very well loved by our two children.
Sadly, one day, Paddy was hit and killed by a neighbor's car while chasing a squirrel. That evening, when the children returned home from school, I called them in to explain the tragedy. Quite surprisingly, they accepted the grim news with little comment and returned to the yard to play.
After fifteen minutes or so, they found me in the kitchen and asked where Paddy was. Thinking they were in some form of denial, I gently started to describe again what had happened to their beloved pet.
The younger boy burst into tears and sobbed, "Paddy? I thought you said Daddy."
