Remembering Ash

Ash and Journey

Ash was my hero and role model. Whatever he did I copied. It was a sign of respect and it’s also how we dogs learn from each other. When you’re a pup you need a good example to look up to. Ash was everything to me.

I’ve been trying to write this Bark for the last three days. I can’t seem to get past the first paragraph. I want to tell about all the wonderful things me and Ash did together. Chasing rabbits, barking at the neighbor dog, swimming in the river, long hikes with Mom. That’s all great stuff but it doesn’t have a happy ending.

Mom says I can leave out the ending for this Bark and maybe write about it later, but everything is connected in my head. The more I remember how much I loved Ash, the more it makes me miss him. I can’t seem to separate the two.

Ash had lots of nicknames. My favorite was “Flyboy” because he could sail through the air like a big bird. He could catch any ball that was remotely close to him. He could pirouette and spin and land light as a feather on his feet.

Mom liked to call him “Magellan” because he was always escaping the fenced yard to go on an adventure. Sometimes he’d come home covered in brambles and bleeding from the blackberry vines. Mom would scold him and he’d just laugh and wink at me. Then Mom would laugh and we’d roll around on the ground together and be silly.

Over time I noticed that Ash didn’t want to play bump and run as much. Mom noticed it too. She took Ash to the vet. They checked him out an couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He’d have days where he was his old self and then he wouldn’t want to run or play for a day or two. We were all worried about him but Ash said everything was okay.

I wonder if he knew how sick he was but didn’t want us to worry. Or did his life just slowly start to slip away. He was ten years old. He’d used his body hard. But ten is young. I’m ten and hoping to live a lot more years.

I’ll write more about the last weeks that we had with Ash, but right now I don’t have the heart for it. Instead I’m going to post some pictures of Ash that are sure to make you smile. It’s what Ash would want. Live, love, laugh and leave ’em smiling.

Ash

Ash

Ash