Throughout my childhood we had a white poodle named Josh. He was a great dog but when his seizure disorder finally caused all of his systems to shut down, we were all heartbroken. My father who proclaims himself to not “care about having pets” was probably hurting the most. Fpr this reason he told me Mom “no more pets!” But in Mom’s true fashion, she decided to go against his wishes and bring home a baby Boston Terrier just a few months later. I think I was in 11th grade.
It didn’t take long for this small, beautiful, ball of fur had won over all of our hearts (including my Dad’s). This dog could do no wrong in any of our eyes. He had such a big personality for a little dog! I can remember like it was yesterday: my sister and I waiting till Buddy was in a deep sleep and snoring pretty good, then his tongue would come out and he would begin to suck. Then we used to love to stick our finger in his lil mouth and he would suck like he was nursing. I can still see and hear my Dad in my mind say “Buddy, stop staring at me!”. LOL My dad and he had a great relationship and Buddy would sit and stare at Dad until he got up to get him a bone or whatever else he may have wanted. My Dad taught him to do a pretty cute trick with his favorite, green milkbones. Dad called it “walrus” as he would let Dad put a treat under each side of his jowels so they were sticking down like Walrus teeth! And Buddy would just leave them there and show them off until we said “okay”.
Buddy was my baby, my best buddy, sleeping partner, confidant and so much more. I think one of the hardest parts of leaving for college was leaving Buddy. I did however bring with me a 16×20 pic of me holding him and giving him a big smooch though! He was the first dog I ever kissed on the lips! (but not the last lol) My first night at SUNY Albany was hard for many reasons, but I really missed my Buddy. My husband (boyfriend at the time) drove 5+ hours total the day after they dropped me off just to sneak Buddy in and let me have some love time with my boy! (tears are starting, I miss him more than I remembered)
Buddy was a friend to everybody and impacted many of my family member’s lives. Even my grandfather on my Dad’s side just loved Buddy to pieces. He wasn’t around much as we were growing up but as he aged and had many health struggles and close calls with death, my Grandfather started hanging out with our family more. One memory I have is that my Grandpa always wore a certain kind of hat (almost like a beret but I can’t think of the name) and as he got older, he walked with a cane. Somehow Buddy and my Grandpa came up with the game of Buddy jumping on his lap and swiping his hat. My grandpa thought this was just the best! Buddy never went far with it, just far enough so Grandpa could get it back with his cane. Buddy gave my Grandpa many smiles over his last year or so.
When I got married, I would have loved to take Buddy with me but I of course didn’t because he was everybody’s “Buddy”. But believe me, I visited and loved him up frequently. I have wedding photos of me and Buddy. I couldn’t have been closer to any person than I was my dog.
Ten years of marriage went by and many things changed. Buddy got older, lost his eyesight, many of his teeth were falling out and he no longer was the clean, house-trained pup he once was, but I still saw that spry puppy with a sparkle in his eye.
My parents moved into an apartment and couldn’t keep him anymore. His demise was hard on my parents of course. I took my boy in and nursed him through every last day he had with me. I fed him like a King and it didn’t matter how many things were ruined with urine as long as he was happy and pain free. Things can be replaced but my time with my Buddy was precious.
It’s been about four years since Buddy went to doggy heaven and most likely met up with Josh and many other great pups. I still miss him so much. No matter how great my fur babies are today, none will replace my bestest “Buddy” in the whole wide world.
I took a picture of a picture of me in 12th grade with Buddy. I wanted to share him with you.
