Christine and I moved to Fort Worth from Fort Lewis, Washington in 2000.
We wanted a dog (well, I wanted a dog… Christine’s always been a cat person).
We’d met a Bichon Frise on post in Washington, that was so happy and fun, that I just had to have one. That Bichon was about 3 feet tall, and rather large (we later learned he was a Bichon/Poodle mix).
So, we found a Bichon breeder in the area, out near Reliant airport, and drove out to pick out a dog. When we got there, we were faced with a choice of one of two females, or the male runt. We chose the runt. The puppy could fit in the palm of one hand… or at least that’s what I remember.
On the way home, we were trying to pick out a name, and were naming off lots of names together… when we saw a billboard for the Law School at Texas Wesleyan… and being a good Methodist, I said “How about Wesley?” And it stuck.
We brought Wesley home, and I promptly went on a business trip (the first of many MacWorld Conferences, on behalf of MacNN). Christine was left to deal with a puppy that had horrible seperation anxiety, and couldn’t keep any food down, while I was out in San Fancisco enjoying a trade show… and to top it all off, we were living in a tiny apartment with all of our belongings still in boxes, while our first house was being built. Needless to say, they got to bond pretty tightly while I was gone. And I’m pretty sure Christine considered taking the poor little guy back while I was out of town, at least once.
We finally got him nursed back to health, and semi-potty trained, and finally moved into out house on Belladonna. Wesley and Patton used to LOVE playing with each other in that house… and I do mean play with each other. They were the best playmates each other could have… and fast friends.
I also started calling Wesley “Waggers” because the dog was always soooo happy to see us… anytime we came through the door.
Wesley was a little dog, but he made up for that in spunk and effort. I remember going for a quick mile run with him once… and picking him up after the first quarter mile, because he just didn’t have it in him to run that far (yes, I actually ran after the Army, at few times – or at least attempted it)
Fast forward a few years, and we moved four times with Wesley, and he saw the birth of two boys (with Jack and with Grayson), and the growth of our family. He’s been an everpresent presence, and never shied away from our love… always returning it in multiples.
He knew all of our friends, and loved every single one of them. He greeted everyone at the door, and was always very excited to welcome them into our home.
He loved to give kisses to anyone that would let him…
He even put up with us putting bows and silly bandanas on him:
He loved it when we gave him a good old fashioned scratching:
Somedays his hair was better than others:
A couple of weeks ago, Christine and I noticed that one of Wesley’s eyes looked a little swollen, so we took him to the vet… then to a specialist. Turns out the poor guy had some kind of tumor growing behind his eye. So we brought him home, and gave him some medicine and some ointment for his eye, but it was apparent the little guy was in pain.
So, this morning, I made one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, and left him with out vet at around 8:15 a.m. I gave him a big hug, and a kiss on the forehead, and told him I’d see him on the other side… and with that I left him in the care of a wonderful and caring veterinary team… I said good-bye to one of my best friends… “Wesley Waggers”.
Tonight Jack told me at dinner that he “just wanted to hold him one more time” and it nearly broke my heart to tell him that “we’ll just have to hold him in our dreams and our prayers and someday, we’ll get to hold him in Heaven.” Jack then proceeded to thank God for Wesley during his prayer for dinner… and to ask for another puppy.
I’ll see you on the Rainbow Bridge buddy.
“The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals.” – Mohandas Gandhi
And thank you to everyone that posted well wishes and condolences on Facebook today. Really appreciate it.
