Today we lost one of our family members, our dog Zeus had been with us since we rescued him in 2002 with the help of some caring people over at Arizona Boxer Rescue. Below is my creative outlet and my way of dealing with this very sad loss.
Zeus, we will miss you so much and are so grateful for time we got to spend with you! You were a fantastic dog that battled through adversity your whole life. As a puppy you were abandoned and then traded from home to home prior to Arizona Boxer Rescue getting involved and placing you with our family. In 2003 we almost lost you because of some over zealous eating habits that led you to believe that a piece of hard black plastic was the perfect tasty treat for a growing pup.... a rush to the emergency room, stomach surgery, a little ziplock bag labeled "removed this unknown foreign object", and a maxed out credit card later you were back at home with us (we never did figure out what that black piece of plastic was)! A year later you were diagnosed with boxer-cardio-myopothy - a disease that the doctors thought would take your life within a few years, but we didn't give up on you and you on us.... so with the help of some drugs to slow your giant energetic heart down we were back on track and having lots of fun camping, taking trips to the dog park, and doing lots of wrestling around! A few years later you got yourself stung by either bees or a scorpion and scared the bejesus out of me when you wouldn't leave my side and I noticed that your face (and peeper... poor guy) were 4 times the size they ought to be!!! After a bit Benadryl and forced lounging around the house and you were back to the races again! You stuck with us year after year of going in for your halter monitors, walking shamefully around the house in your "special jacket" while the other dogs poked fun at you so the doctors could tell us how far the Boxer-Cardio-Myopothy had progressed. In the end it wasn't any of those things that finally slowed you down... instead it was something hidden, something we couldn't see and you didn't show any signs of... which I think I'm glad for. I'm glad you lived such a full life and one that didn't end with you being in a lot of pain for a long duration of time.
You were such a wonderful friend. You were a dog that I had complete trust in... even when Ethan came along and as the months went by you moved further and further down the chain of command you still showed unconditional love for our family and all it's members. I appreciated how good you were with Ethan letting him constantly try to ride you like a horse or pinch you when he got over excited... or even accidentally fall on you as he practiced walking... and then jumping. You should know he asked about you for the first time tonight on his own on the way back from picking him up from school. Leann and I asked him if he wanted to go out to get dinner (because neither of us felt like making anything at home) to which he replied "No, I want to go home... want to see the dogs: Riley, and Rajah, and Zeus!". He had so much fun with you over the last few weeks and I know that he will miss you a lot as well. Trying to decide what to tell him about why you aren't at home.... why we are only feeding two dogs... and when he starts asking "Where's Zeusee?" has been one of the hardest things I've had to do as a father in this short amount of time that I've been in this position... I haven't had to have the conversation with him yet... but I think I'm going to tell him that you are on a "special mission" and that you won't be coming back home to us because your energy is being put into other things... other VERY IMPORTANT things and we that we should be happy that we got to spend time with you while your mission was with our family. I think he'll get that.... at a minimum he'll think that the mission part is cool :)
In the end I'm sorry that I didn't get to say goodbye to you in person.... I'm sorry I made you get off the couch this weekend when we were watching movies... when all you wanted to do was snuggle with us. I loved you very much as did everyone in this family. You're energy, unconditional love, and snuggles will be sorely missed. I'll do my best to try to convey to Rajah and Riley where you are and what happened... I know they will miss you probably even more than I can imagine and I'll do my best to see them through their mourning period.
Goodbye for now my friend.
2 comments:
Zeus! You are gorgeous! I can see that you gave so much love. I believe that that love will never die! You will be with your people forever! Maybe, someday we will all be together with ALL our loved ones. I want to believe that there would be no heaven with our pets. I expect to go there and I expect to meet you there in time.
Love, Cousin Misty
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