Man, Woman and Child’s Best Friend

Look at this picture of my Dad when he was little.

You can just see how much he loves his dog.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of him when he was little…

I thought about tagging it with a title…A Day in the Life of a Boy and His Dog.

It just is so sweet, it makes me sigh a little every time I see it.

Aaaaahhhhhhh.

Isn’t it amazing how our pets can mean so much to us and truly, truly be our best friends.  They make us laugh and sometimes cry…they show us love when we’re down…sometimes wake us in the morning…sometimes tucking us in at night.  They guard us, they love us unconditionally, they make us better humans.

Our Hershey is so excited to see me when I get up in the morning.  I find him either laying on his chair (in the picture)…yes it’s truly his chair.  Or I find him laying on my spot on the couch (and yes…it’s my spot…I’m not quite as bad as Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, but close).

His tail starts wagging…he looks up at me with those big eyes, without picking up his head…and then he tucks his nose under his paw…it’s just so darn adorable.

Then at night time he literally has to come and check to make sure we’re all tucked in.  And if I stay up later than everyone else, he will stand up and walk to the stairs and look back at me like “well, are you coming?”

As you can see Hershey let’s Elena put necklaces on him (this was a year ago).

He marches after her as she marches to her music around and around the couch.

He runs after her and licks at her neck right behind her ear until she giggles and pushes him away only to call him to follow her again.

And he never, ever steps on baby Nicole as she makes her way across the floor…I don’t know how he does it (I have been known to cover my eyes and say “No Hershey!” – ok, so this is when I can’t get to the baby fast enough to scoot her out of the way.)

Then there’s the story of how he greeted Tim’s Dad one day…

Tim’s Dad was walking up the alley as Tim and Hershey were coming from the opposite way.  Tim unhooked Hershey from his leash and said “Get Grandpa Hershey – Get Grandpa!”

Let’s just say that Michael Jordan had nothing on Hershey when it came to air time.  And WOMP…right into Grandpa who caught him mid-air.  Grandpa still shakes his head and laughs about that day!

He’s a sweet, sweet, little old man at 13 years old…and we cherish every day we have with him.  (Hershey, that is…Grandpa is much older but we cherish him every day too!)

We know we don’t have too long left with Hershey…he’s slowed up quite a bit and is losing muscle mass as older dogs do.  But he remains as wonderful as ever.

This was my dog Arfie (yes, original isn’t it?)…I’m guessing this is when I first got her.  (Yes, I had a shag haircut…ugh.)

And then there’s this one from when she was a little older…

And then this one from when she was a sweet, senile little old lady.

I say that with all the love in my heart…

She really was the best dog…

She’d let the nieces and nephews sit on her…tug on her ears…lay on her…you name it and not one bark or bite.

However, when she got to the final years of her life, she started to lose it…

She was barking at the shadow of the light pole…

And God forbid a male dog come around…She’d literally back her butt up to the door and stay there for hours until the dog went away.  (Yes, you can insert your jokes here!)

She was very sweet though…until the day she got too sick and Mom and Dad had to put her down.  I remember I was gone for the weekend and I came home to the news.

Yes, these animals tug at our hearts.

My dear friend Lori and her family are dealing with this decision as I write.  Their beautiful, incredibly lovable dog Dewey has cancer and so they’ll be taking him to the vet tomorrow to say goodbye.

Gabi and I went to visit Dewey today…to give him some love.

He has been just the funniest and yes, sweetest dog…

I’d stop at their house to visit my friend Lori and here would come Dewey to meet me at the car.  He’d walk me to their door, eventually pushing me into the side of the house as we walked…Dewey’s a beautiful, very large, Bernaise Mountain Dog.  I’d laugh and push him back over saying “Deweeeeey!!!”

Yes, we’ll miss his sweet face (on that big ole head of his).

Godspeed Dewey.

May you and Arfie run and play – having fun in Heaven.

We loved you both.

Patty O