Rexy dog

Our beloved Rex, the world’s most wonderful dog, passed away the evening of Thursday, May 24 2005. His death was sudden and surprising. One week earlier he’d passed his yearly exam, shots and all, with flying colors. Sunday, camping with us in Floyd, VA for our second anniversary, he came along for an eight mile hike. It was his first camping trip, and he learned to sleep in the tent (and on the air mattress). Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he was his happy self. He fell ill Thursday morning. His vet checked him out, did a bacteria test finding nothing, and understandably, as he’d only been looking ill a few hours, assumed he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him. Rex passed away quietly in his sleep over night.

Rexy Boy

Rex became part of our family in the spring of 2004. When we walked up to the shelter, he was the one dog who didn’t bark at us. He clumsily lobbed after a tennis ball in the play area, and we immediately fell in love. We took him home that day. The shelter told us his story, that he’d been shot in the neck as a youngster, and that he’d always have that bullet in him. He was roughly 1.5 years when we got him.

Rexy Boy

Even stronger than you’d expect for a 110 pound dog, he was the gentlest, most sensitive dog imaginable. Every night he’d lay with us on the couch, and sleep with us in our bed. Even running full speed across our small second floor, where we’d wrestle at night, he never, ever knocked anything over. Every morning I’d walk him 2 miles around the park. The children at the bus stops on the way would pet him. Sometimes when we were walking him, a car would drive down the street and a little bus stop kid would yell out the back window, “Hi Rex!” He was always sensitive physically, as well, with a vomiting problem that confounded every vet he ever saw.

Rexy Boy

Rex was the most beautiful, happy, loving dog either of us could ever imagine. Every day, every single day, he made our lives happier. We will never forget him.

Rexy Boy

Please, no e-mails, calls or condolences. Pet a dog, show him some love, give him a treat, take him for a walk. Let him give you his love back.

To Rexy boy, from mommy

To Rexy boy, from mommy,

I miss every single ounce of you and who you were and still are.

I miss you waiting at the door when I came home from work, wagging that big stump of yours, I miss when you wouldn’t get up to greet me but just looked up lazily from your couch.

I miss our peein’ and pettin’ sessions when you would come to be pet every time I sat down on the pot and would sing you the little ditty – “peein’ and a pettin’, pettin’ and a peein’…”

I miss singing songs with your daddy and sticking your name in randomly to make funny lyrics.

I miss you coming to stand in between both me and daddy’s legs when we’d be kissing after a long day at work and at school.

I miss kicking you off my side of the bed and making you go over to daddy’s side.

I miss countless evenings of you sitting on the porch with me, checking out the scene while I sipped wine.

I miss you demanding that your daddy play with you and him relenting every time even when he was tired.

I miss you trying to squeeze into ridiculously small spots on the couch just because you wanted to be close to us, and how you thought you were a lap dog…and how we loved that about you.

I miss watching you chase squirrels when I would go on walks with you and your daddy.

I miss you hanging your head out the car window, big ears flapping in the wind.

I miss how you buried things in the yard (albeit not that well) and how we’d find things like Halloween candy, loaves of bread, and half eaten tortillas months later - and that brown nose that always gave you away.

I miss how every person that ever met you fell in love with you immediately – you had a lot of fans, buddy.

I miss waking up with you, going to bed with you, coming home to you, taking trips with you.

You were more than a dog. You were a buddy, a companion, and a friend. We loved every second with you, and you loved us.

You were and still are the embodiment of love.

And none of this even comes close to describing how much you mean to us.

You’ll always be my stinker binker.

Love, your mommy.