Saying Goodbye to Summer and to Our Sweet Coco
Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. The weekend that sneaks up on us every year, telling us it is time to close the chapter on long warm days, late nights, and that certain ease we only get in June, July, and August.
I still think about those old school “rules” like no white after Labor Day. Our grandmothers lived by them, and while fashion has changed, the sentiment remains. Labor Day feels like a marker, a shift, time to trade swimsuits for sweaters, (it’s sweater weather) bright beach towels for cozy throws, and backyard barbecues for pumpkin spice lattes and fall candles. Out come the mums on front porches, the bins of autumn decor, and the excitement of homecoming shopping and planning with my daughters.
For moms, this is also when life speeds up. School is back in session, the calendar fills, sports pick up, and suddenly every weekend has a football game, a tailgate, soccer, volleyball or whatever fall sport your kid is in. College football kicks off with its own energy, go Buckeyes, OH–IO! In Cleveland we cautiously cheer on the Browns, though I will not hold my breath. Football season has a way of pulling us together as communities, families, and friends, even if we do not care about the score as much as the memories that surround it.
But this Labor Day weekend was different. Alongside the usual shift into fall, we had a heartbreaking goodbye. Our sweet, sweet, sweet dog Coco crossed the rainbow bridge. She was a tiny multipoo with a huge heart, so gentle with kids, so loved by our family and by everyone who met her. We learned she had kidney disease, and her little body was just too tired to keep going. It was devastating to let her go, and even more heartbreaking to watch my kids grieve the loss of their first best friend. Coco wasn’t just our dog, she was part of our family, woven into the fabric of our daily life. She greeted us with joy, gave us unconditional love, loved cucumbers, and made our house a warmer, happier place. She was the boss of our golden retriever but he so happily let her be the boss.
So maybe that’s why this year, the end-of-summer sadness feels heavier. It’s not just saying goodbye to long golden evenings or carefree days or the slowing down I have in the summer, it’s saying goodbye to Coco. A season of life and as my husband said a chapter has closed, we got Coco when our oldest who is now a senior in high school was in kindergarten, and with it comes grief that feels sharp and deep. How fast time goes by.
And yet, even in heartbreak, I keep finding myself leaning toward gratitude. Gratitude for the years we had with Coco. Gratitude for the way she taught my daughters about love, joy, and the bittersweet reality of loss. Gratitude that her little life made such a big impact on ours.
Fall, with all its busyness and beauty, is still here. The mums, the homecoming dresses, the Friday night lights, the pumpkin spice, the crisp mornings. Life keeps moving, seasons keep shifting, and our hearts are invited to shift with them. Coco reminded me of something we forget, that love, once given, never really leaves. It stays with us, shaping who we are, softening us, and making us better.
So as we step into September, I want to honor both truths, the ache of goodbye and the beauty of new beginnings. I want to carry the light of summer and the love of Coco into this new season, letting them be reminders to savor the moments, to embrace change, and to keep opening my heart even when it hurts.
If you too are feeling the weight of summertime sadness, or carrying your own loss, know that you are not alone. Let this season inspire you to hold onto the gratitude, to notice the beauty that remains, and to trust that joy will circle back, just as the seasons always do.
Summer will come again, love never leaves, and even in goodbye, there is always something to carry forward.
We love you forever, Coco!
Nikki Lanigan
Nikki Lanigan is a yoga, HIIT, and Barre instructor, she is also a Holistic Health Coach through Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Nikki is trained in Yoga Shred, Yoga Psychology, meditation, chakra balancing, and EFT/Tapping. She has done trainings with Sadie Nardini and Ashley Turner. She got her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2017 at the Carrie Treister School Of Yoga. Nikki takes a holistic view of health, helping her students and clients reach a place of self-love not just through movement, but with mindset and lifestyle guidance as well. Nikki is also show prep writer for The McVay Media Show Prep and host of the podcast Fit, Fun, and Frazzled. Connect with Nikki on Instagram. www.instagram.com/nikkilanigan.yogaandwellness www.instagram.com/fitfunandfrazzledpodcast
