Bear is a missed friend. Bear became a member of our family in 1992, and sadly left us in 2008. He looked like a little bear cub and that’s why I named him Bear. Everyone loved him and he also gave us a lot of love. He could bring out smiles and laughter anywhere he went. He would also smile back at you…that was the craziest thing, his big smile! Always waiting to swipe a snack, he had the stealth of a ninja, a food ninja to be exact. At one of our barbeques, a friend of mine made about ten hamburgers and he came inside for something and I asked him where are the burgers? He said he had left them on the picnic table outside and I said “they’re gone”. We looked outside and sure enough Bear had jumped on the table and was feasting on all ten burgers. I was able to keep him with me until I moved to Denver, then my mom took care of him. She especially liked having Bear sit by her when she would use the computer and watch TV. Her special moments with Bear was when she’d sit outside on her swing and Bear would jump up and sit next to her. She misses him terribly. If there was a chance to hide in the shadows, he would wait until the right moment to run across your feet and catch your sandwich as you tried not to step on him. From his time as a puppy, he was always ready to wrestle with our cat Slick, chase the mailman, and go fishing so he could put his nose in the water and fish too. He loved his car rides and never thought twice about jumping right out the window if he thought there was a good chance he could run and play with another dog he saw. He always wanted to take a nap, when he was outside and would chase a fly or bee if it buzzed too close to his special nap area. Once he was running and yelping in circles outside, I guess I would too if a bee had landed and stung my stubby tai….so much for a nap near a bee hive. He also loved chasing squirrels. Bear hated loud noises especially thunder and lightning. I remember one day he was outside and the weather turned bad. He got scared and instead of coming inside through the doggy door, he ran all around the back yard in circles yelping. Even during the hottest day of the summer, he would stand outside the sliding door shaking as if he were freezing so we could let him in and as soon as he came in the house, he would start jumping and running around. He was pretty sneaky. Bear showed me that there is a special bond between us and our pets. There is purity in the affections and loyalties that our pets share with us.
I miss my little friend. I will always feel sadness, and I will always wonder if the decision I made was right to put him down, but a friend like Bear deserved to have a life without pain and suffering. I know that his life was filled with love I only hope that he knew how much happiness he gave us and how much we will miss him. He rests next to his friend Slick, another furry and loved member of the family. There is a special place in our backyard where they are buried. They are both loved and missed. They will forever be in our hearts.Now they can run and chase each other.We Thank you Dr. Cooney for being there and helping us deal with our loss. God Bless you Dr. Cooney.
We love you Bear and Slick.
Joe & family.