I’ll Miss You Friend

I’m flooded with memories today. Memories of my wonderful friend Baxter.

We had to let Baxter go last night. He was sick. He was not eating. He couldn’t walk at the end and we knew he wouldn’t want to live like this. Priscilla and Matthew said goodbye for all of us as we’re all miles away.

It really hasn’t hit me too hard yet. It probably will when I return home and he’s not there to greet me. Baxter was always there to greet me.

We got Baxter when he was a puppy and it wasn’t long after that when Oscar came to live with us. Baxter welcomed him right in, he even got a little more protective of his “pack.” They were great friends.

When Oscar the Beagle died this past May, people suggested I keep writing the Woof Wednesday blog from Baxter’s point of view. We thought about it but Baxter was never the rascal that Oscar was. Baxter was the calm, quiet one. I could picture Oscar coming up with a plan and Baxter trying to reason with him.

I’ll remember Baxter always wanting to go for his daily walk. No matter the weather, he wanted to go. It could be beastly cold with the wind howling but he’d want to go. I used to imagine that once he got outside he might be thinking, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” but he still wanted to go.

He liked sleeping in our bed, specifically my side. When I used to do the morning show he loved the fact that I got up at 4 a.m. He could spread out and take my whole side. Now that I sleep in he would get excited if I got up to go to the bathroom during the night. There I’d be, 2 a.m. trying to negotiate with 100 lbs of fur to please move over.

He was a good friend. Through all my surgeries and the stroke he was always there for a snuggle. He would gently come up on the bed or couch and never hurt the surgical area. He would gently place his head near the incision in my knee or hip.

Baxter was there for me through the many hours of rehab. We had some wonderful conversations and he never seemed to disagree.

He was a good boy. I know we were lucky to have 12 years with a golden retriever. He’s now reunited with his best friend. They’re both happy and pain free and wrestling like they did when they were pups.