Tribute to Nick
Nick was a gift. She was eight years old and had lost her owner, Toni. I had lost my dog, Canyon, both to cancer.
Brought to gether to fill an emptiness, we bonded immediately.
The first years of Nick’s life had been spent up in Red Feather Lakes. Her registered name was Princess Nikkoma, after Lake Nikkoma. She had lived a wild life. I was told she chased bears up trees.
With me her life was calmer, walks to the campus, swimming in the lake, along the Poudre River Trail, and summer soaks in her backyard swimming pool. She wasn’t sure what to make of car rides at first, but grew to really enjoy them, windows down and the wind blowing in her face. She expected to go with me everywhere I went, and except to work, she pretty much did.
Nick was a people dog. She adjusted well to the comings and goings of different people in her life. She left a lasting impression on each of them, and them on her. She liked people so much that one day she allowed burglers into the house. She let them take whatever they wanted. Fortunately, they didn’t want her.
Nick was the most famous dog in Greeley, making the front page of the Greeley Tribune February 6, 2014 for braving that year’s polar vortex and shoveling snow with me. “The Dog Days of Winter” was the headline that day.
Nick never wandered far from my side, always looking back to make sure I wasn’t far behind. I sometimes played hide and seek with her. There was always a look of reflief on her face when I’d come out from hiding behind a tree.
At night Nick snuggled up right along side of me. We both took comfort in knowing the other was there. There is a sense of peace in the warmth of her breath, the song of her snore, and the dance as she ran in her sleep.
Nick became my shadow, my companion, my best friend. Her life gave me happiness, her loss has made me sad, but her memories have again given me happiness.
Nick was a gift that I will hold in my heart for always. A gift that I will be forever thankful for. I will always love her. I will never forget her, and so she will live.