Jackson

A long time ago, back in the days of City College, I was approached by a dog on the lawn who was about 10 months old. He was pretty badly beat up, but a very gentle, sweet guy. After spending a little time getting him meatloaf sandwiches and getting him to trust me, I was able to coax him, along with the help of many others at school, into my truck. I was going to take him to the Humane Society, but knew that they would probably just put him down if he were as much of a mess as he was. I needed to take him to the Vet first to be treated before going to the Humane Society so that he could at least stand a chance of being adopted. There was no way that I could keep him since I was a starving college student living in a small condo. My sister Gigi loaned me the money to bring him to the Vet and my sister Lorraine came with me a few days later to pick him up from the Vet's Office. As soon as he came out into the waiting area---he walked over to me and put his head on my lap. I knew at that point that he was going to stay with me no matter what. I would make it work somehow. He has been with me since over the past 16 years.

He has been my "good boy", constant companion and a member of the family ever since. We went to the beach every day in his younger days and would take long walks down to Seaport Village when we lived downtown. Every night, he would sleep at the foot of my bed and wake me up in the morning by touching my face with his nose.

As he got older, his legs started to give out on him and he lost his hearing. He was no longer able to do so many of the things that I took for granted--but he was still there so happy to see me and waiting for his treats.

He no longer slept at the foot of my bed once it got too difficult to get up from his dog bed in the living room. He no longer woke me up for the same reason but for some reason, over the last few days, he started to hobble into the room to sleep at the foot of the bed and would come over to wake me up. He couldn't stand very well anymore, so he would lay on the floor while I pet him once I was awake.

With him getting on in age, I knew that the inevitable would one day come. I wanted him to be able to go on his own, but I also would never want to see him suffer. Because of that, I decided that he would have to let me know in his own way when it was time.

Lorraine stayed with Keira last night while Dan and I went out to celebrate our 5 year Anniversary. When we got back, late last night he woke up panting and whimpering. I stayed with him until his breathing came back to normal and he could relax. Dan and I fell asleep and woke up once again to him not only panting, but howling and sounding almost like screams. I stayed out in the living room with him and slept on the couch, until he woke me up one last time barely able to breathe. I knew he was telling me that it was time.

I brought him to the Vet at 3 this morning. I got to spend a few more moments with him thanking him for everything that he had given me and telling him how much I loved him. I stayed with him a little after he went to sleep.

It's hard to believe that he's gone. I will always miss him- my good boy.