The sweetest love...my Big Man

I am grateful for the love of a dog...all of our dogs, but Chico was special.  We lost him on August 17th very suddenly but his physical body is all that is gone because he is still filling our hearts.

On the 4th of July in 2003 we had been at a picnic at friends' house and needed to go home to feed and let out Tessa and Max, our two pups (now in spirit) who had been home all afternoon alone.  My husband wanted to go back to the picnic and shoot fireworks and drink beer and though I rarely do this to him, I vetoed that in favor of a cone at DQ.  I am so blessed and grateful that I did...

Across the street from DQ sat a girl and a dog in a dark corner of the gas station parking lot.  I knew something was not right.  She had the pup not on a leash but a bandana tied to his collar and a small cup of water she was giving him.  I ran across and sat in front of her and talked with her to finally get from her that she was waiting out a meth rage her boyfriend was in and she'd been sitting there for HOURS with her blind pup.  My love for her will be another entry, but when she lifted her head to look me in the eye, the horror I saw in what he had done broke my heart and filled my head with rage.  No time for that, mission accepted, get her and her pup to safety...

As I said, my entry about my sweet girl will be coming later.  But as I sent my husband home to take Tessa and Max and come back for us, I felt such deep focus on never letting them go through this again that all I could think of was protecting the two of them.

Chico was blind and only 1.5 years old.  A beautiful white/blonde Husky boy with striking blue eyes.  As my sweet girl started her life over free of rage and abuse, she gave him to us to be a part of the family.  Tessa and Max would walk on either side of him to make sure he did not bump into things in the house.  They walked in the parks on either side of him to make sure he knew the way.  They shared bones with him and beds with him.  I would often go up to one of the spare bedrooms to find Chico and Max laying on the bed in the sun napping.

When we put up the Christmas tree, Chico would lay in the room listening and then approach the tree to understand what was now in place of the couch.  He had been listening the whole time to furniture move and figured out what was going on.  Then he would sleep almost UNDER the tree :)  We always wondered if he could feel the energy of the lights.

And boy did he love unwrapping the gifts :)

He would lay in the yard for hours loving nature.  He loved digging a hole and laying in the cool dirt. He would come in with that dirty face and a huge smile.

He smiled all the time.  My sweet boy who had been blinded from a blow to the head we figured out, smiled all the time :)

He could hear a bread wrapper being undone from the second floor and like a stealth appear behind you waiting for a piece of toast to be shared.

When he wanted to eat on the deck, he would walk out and howl as if to say "Al fresco tonight people..." and we took his dish outside for him to dine :)

He sang all the time.  Every morning at 5am he would wake with my husband and talk for breakfast.  I would lay up in bed listening to them... "you want what for breakfast Chico?  French toast?  OK, well syrup or just butter?  Hash browns too?"  "You want steak for dinner Chico?  baked potato?  Green beens or asparagus with that?"  And most mornings I remembered to say "Thank you God for his talk and for making me cross the street that night."

He could tell time I swear.  My husband would tell him sometimes at 5AM, "Chico, 30 more minutes and we'll do breakfast."  And precisely 30 minutes later, singing would commence again.

I planted roses in the back yard one summer, lavender ones that smelled like Heaven.  They kept disappearing.  We found one day that Chico would rub his nose in the blooms, lift his head to take in the sweet smell, chomp the bloom off in his mouth to then spit petals out in a shower all over the yard.

Chico loved to eat vegetables like no dog I've seen, could hear the lettuce wrapper coming off from the back yard and raced in to beg...

He loved the snow.  He would dig a hole in the snow (we get about 90" in the winter) and face the sun and lay there until he was told it was dinner time.  Sometimes would not come in until literally pulled by the collar.  I had many days at -27 degrees I had to force him to come in.

My husband would throw a tennis ball in the back yard and Chico would hear and find it before the other two who could see.

Our vets will tell you that he was the best pup ever.  They already have said it but would say it again. Never let his blindness be a barrier.

When Tessa and Max passed away, I watched him grieve like we are now in his absence.  It was almost a year and our little Maya who finally snapped him out of it and got him to play again.  Maya is the one grieving now.  Marty is just confused.

Going through this is so hard and missing him and hearing him in my twilight sleep and feeling that void.  But I am so very grateful we got to experience his love, his regal nature, his voice and his humor.  My heart is broken but full and life will never be the same.

Here's to you Big Man, I am forever grateful for you.