Last night my dad called and left a message on our answering machine to call him when I got a chance. He sounded very strange to I called the second I got the message. I knew from the second I heard him say hello something bad had happened....sadly I was right. Our beloved black lab had died. We got him in 2001 in Pocatello. After a sting of bad luck with dogs we found an add for him in the paper and went to get him. The guy wanted 50 bucks and we were ready to pay but he said that with the love we were showing him we could just have him. We took him home in an apple box and babied him to no end. He was a one of a kind dog. He was a lab, something mix with a pink and black tongue. It took about a year to grow into his paws and he was just so lovable. My dad had never really gotten attached to dogs for the simple reason that growing up on a farm if something happened to one and they had to be put down he would have to do it. But Jack was different, everyone in our family loved that dog but my dad especially attached to him. He knew my dads pickup and would wait for him to come home at night. My dad was the first one he would run to for a pat on the head.
About a year or two ago he was hit by a truck or car and had something happen to his front leg. While he was not killed by the accident his leg was never the same. Not knowing what to do my parents just let him be...he was still able to walk, run, play and be a dog but his leg had a small sore on it that just kept getting worst. While they should have taken him to the vet, I think my dad did not want to hear the news that Jack should be put down. Jack then decided in this last year that he should find porcupines and pester them. He came home with quills in his nose almost weekly.
So back to my dads call. He told me in a very level voice that Jack was no longer with us. I broke down right then. My first question was if he had to do it. (with all that was going on with Jack I was sure my dad decided to put him out of his misery) He said no, when my dad came home from harvest Jack was dead on the drive way. He had been out in the field playing just being a dog and then my dad saw him head home. It was like he wanted one last run in the field. So my dad and mom wrapped him in a white sheet and took him down to where the rest of the family dogs are and laid him to rest.
I know its crazy to be so attached to a dog....a dog that for the last five years I have not even been around but...here I sit crying again... I think I am crying more for my dad and the fact that he lost this dog. Hearing the pain and sadness in his voice last night just broke my heart. I its nothing like losing a child or a parent or a friend but for our family it was losing a member.
Here are a couple pictures of Jack. He loved to play in the water...during the summer he could always be found rolling in whatever pond he could find.
A side note, Brent and Casey had just gotten home from a walk by the river when my dad told me. My poor son had to witness his mother break down. Then I had the joy of trying to explain to my son why mom was sad. He loved Jack and when he saw a picture of him and told me that he died last night. I hope I can use this as a good teaching tool for him.
2 comments:
I loved that dog too. Even if he did take after Hank a time or two. After all Jack was THE dog of the farm and the rest were just visiting! Jack will be missed but I am glad he is no longer suffering. Your Dad can come visit Hank when he gets lonely for a good dog. Hank LOVES him! And I shed a tear myself, both for Jack and for my brother.
I think in everyone's life there is that one dog that just steals your heart. I watched your Dad with Jack -- and Jack was certainly that one dog. I'm so sorry.
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