Good Bye Buster

Last night, we had the very sad task of saying good-bye to my in-laws 11 1/2 year old chocolate lab, Buster. As you get older, you realize how you are older than you think you are when things like this happen. For the lifetime before I met Workaholic, he spent his summers at his parent's lake cottage. It was on leased land, and one of the rules was NO PETS. (I know, I know, the horror!) Anyway, the summer after I met Workaholic, his parents made the decision to move to another cottage across the lake. It was still on leased land, but this time, there was no dreaded NO PETS rule. In fact, it seems like it was almost encouraged. Everyone over there had a dog.

They moved in to the new place over the 4th of July weekend, and in August they bought an adorable little chocolate lab puppy. They debated between naming him Buster and Elvis, but Buster won out. He was to be my youngest to-be-brother-in-law's dog, but over the years, we all realized that he really was my father-in-law's dog. They would "talk" to each other. Buster would often set his chin on my FIL's knee, and then do a little groan-y howl, which was reciprocated by my mostly deaf FIL. Back and forth they would go, until Buster got what he wanted.

I met Buster when he was about 12 weeks old, and the first thing I remember is how he had a love of running away. He adored being off-leash, and proved himself completely untrustworthy of sticking around his own house. His first day home, he ran right over the edge of a pool and sank. Good thing someone was there to fish him out. Granted, he was following his new little buddy, (who also happened to be his savior that day), but it sort of foreshadowed his tendency to let his heart lead the way.

This proved to be a challenge his entire life, as just last month he wandered out my back door, down the stairs, and visited our friends 6 houses down. He got there, but couldn't get back, so he just lay down and waited in the front yard until we came to get him. (My MIL once got a phone call while she was in Florida.... "Hi, we have your dog." It was my neighbor across the street! Oops.) He was on a NSAID and a narcotic for his arthritis, was on Phenobarbital for seizures, and he had benign tumors on his tail and under his belly.

But all of those things were just the physical part of Buster. The best part of Buster, what made him who he was, was just his awesomeness. People who didn't even like dogs loved Buster. He was calm, sweet, and just asked for your love and affection. And while his ulterior motive may have always been for you to give him peanut butter, he really like the pats too. Because there were three things Buster truly loved in this world. Running away, his family, and peanut butter.

Buster was a smart cookie, as he could open screen doors, knew what "Go get your peanut butter" meant, and knew the actions leading up to a car ride or a boat ride. If he saw a suitcase come out, he would sit in the front seat of the car for hours so he wouldn't be left behind. (He was the only dog I knew whose owners had to turn on the air conditioned seats in the summer because he wouldn't get out of the car!) If he saw coolers and towels, he opened the screen door and ambled down the pier to the boats. He would wait to see which boat was the chosen one that day, and then would board it and take his assigned seat in the front. Or the back, or wherever he wanted. (He was over 100lbs!)

The thing is, no one minded having Buster around. Some dogs can get annoying...they smell, or they beg for your attention, or they jump. But Buster just greeted you (albeit with a nose to the crotch) and then went on his way. If he felt he had not had a sufficient amount of peanut butter that day, he might throw his bone at your feet, (or on your lap) and give a little whine. He knew the difference between "Say please" and "Speak!". He didn't care if little kids crawled all over him, pulled his ears or tail, or stuck their fingers in his mouth. He just basked in the glow of a child's love and later gnawed on his peanut butter bone.

So today is a sad day. (Granted, the past couple of years took their toll on our old man. He moved more like an 80 year old veteran NFL player than an 11 year old pretty-well-medicated dog.) But his spirit was always there, and love always radiated from his eyes towards his people. We'll miss you Buster. We'll miss you swimming in the lake, jumping off the pontoon boat, pooping in the water (shh...don't tell anyone!!), and sneaking off to the Yacht Club or the Hayes'. We'll miss you barking to be let in the house, or out of the house, or rolling over for a belly rub or to be vacuumed. We're just going to miss you. I know you are waiting on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge for your Timmy, and while you wait you have all the peanut butter you could ever want. Rest in peace, old man.

Busy Busy Busy

Whew…what a weekend! First I took off work early to run down to Indy to watch my cousins play in the Class A state championship baseball game. (On the way there, I had thought that I would pump, as I am still breastfeeding. And then I realize that I don’t have batteries, so we stop and get some. And then I realize I don’t have the battery pack. Thanks to my sis for having an adapter in her car…I made it into the game just as some girl was singing the national anthem-whew!) (I also have a picture of me and my 3 sisters taken as the tornado sirens were going off at the stadium, but I'll have to upload it this weekend, Ieft the cord for my camera at the lake)

Check out the Lafayette news clip on the game and my cousin Emily here. And here is the Sun Commercial account of the game. Unfortunately, my alma mater was just too much for my family’s team, but it was an incredible, inspiring run. It was hot as hell, I am very thankful to my mom for keeping Samantha while I went to the game. My plan to wait until the thunderstorms got east of I-65 FAILED MISERABLY and we drove straight into a good one on the way back to Lafayette. Oh well…thank goodness for good windshield wiper blades and the lines on the road. Good thing the guy who drew them wasn’t drunk!

Saturday I headed to the lake…and drove through 4 construction zones to get there. That is just ridiculous. It was hot and humid and I drank too much draft beer at our friend’s wedding reception. Good times, Sam was a good partier. We are training her well.

After going to bed at 2 in the morning, I was awakened a couple hours later to hear my in-law’s chocolate lab Buster having a seizure. All I have to say is that it is a damn good thing that people and dogs have no memory when they have seizures. Because they would be traumatized ten times more than the people who have to watch it. The horrible thing about Buster’s seizures (you mean besides the violent shaking?) is that they last so. damn. long. I would guess that this one was about 20 minutes. Usually anything over 5 minutes is BAD. So this was very bad. Unfortunately he loses all bodily functions when this happens too.

So Buster gets all stiff and shaky, and Workaholic has no idea what is going on. He actually got up and went to the bathroom before realizing what I meant when I said, “Buster is having a seizure.” And then he sits there trying to calm him, as if that is possible, by putting his head right next to Buster’s wide open mouth with pointy, thrashing teeth. Yeah…that didn’t make me nervous or anything. Poor guy takes a few hours to get back any sort of semblance of himself after one of these episodes. Fortunately, he only has 2 or 3 a year. Also fortunately, my MIL was kind enough to take Samantha in the morning so I could get a few more hours of sleep. I just cannot function on 3 hours.

Sunday was a bit more relaxing; I slept in and lay out on the pier for most of the late afternoon. Samantha took a good long nap and I chilled in the water with the dogs. Everyone else went for a boat ride, but I am happy with my decision to avoid the rocking boat in favor of the stable pier. Because a hangover and a rocky boat do not make for a happy Gail.

Any-hoo...moral of the story is...I am exhausted, proud of the family, and looking forward to next weekend!