For over nine years I had a shadow, a buddy, a best friend. Where I walked in the house, he was a step away. When I worked as a dog groomer, he came to work with me daily. We travelled together, we walked together, we took quite a few naps together. I was one of the only standard poodle owners in my town and I am proud that he represented his breed beautifully. He was graceful and friendly. Smart as a whip, well trained, loved to please and could make us laugh with his goofy antics. He knew that babies and small little yorkies required gentleness not custom with large breeds. He joined our family when we had one baby and he eagerly treated the next four. He knew that he could produce belly laughs from toddlers when he would sit and push toy cars for them. He would patiently march behind a little girl, on a leash knowing, she was glowing because she was ‘walking the dog’. The day our autistic son ran away he sat under a tree in the yard pleading with us and we stupidly ignored him…only to discover an hour later our son was indeed up (two stories) in that tree. Every meal was eaten with him a few feet away, every morning he greeted us and every evening he said goodnight. The only time he would misbehave was when I would be away for a few days whether from hospital stays or travel for work but the moment I returned he would right himself.
He wagged his tail when we told him about about the new house, the big yard, the room he would have to run around and stretch his legs. One week in September, we talked about going that Saturday so he could see this dream home. he wagged his tail politely and went to lay back on his bed. He had been quieter that week and had developed a cough on Wednesday. So, a vet appointment was made. Crosby never did see the new house he passed away on Thursday from an aggressive cancer.
It took severals days to even bring myself to pick up his leash, knowing that it would be the last time I would ever pick up after him again.
‘Heartbroken’
I posted this image to the CMPro Daily Project, a way of expressing my grief and connecting with hundreds of other dog lovers. It is an image that still brings tears to my eyes.
Months have passed, we have moved and life has moved forward and the ache is duller, we laugh about his antics and how he enriched our lives.
A few days ago I saw the link for the 30 Most Popular Photos on the CM Daily Project and this photo was there, out of 8000 other photos from incredible photographers. I am proud, I am sad, it is a bittersweet moment.
It is one last gift from a dear friend.
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