An Ode To Smokey

There it was in blue and black (if you’re an iPhone user) Smokey died…. And for a quick second I think I had a heart attack. See my brother who rarely physically calls anyone, called me three times in a span of thirty minutes. I didn’t answer his calls because I was at a lunch meeting, finally I decided to text him and ask him what was up and ever in a million years did I think he would have told me that Smokey died. See Smokey was the family dog for the past 11 years and has been a valued member of my family for all these years. 

I remember going with my Step-dad to pick out Smokey from the pound for my brother's 13th birthday. I looked and looked around and not one of those dogs moved me, then I got to the pin where he was. He had about 4-6 other brothers and sisters with him, but there was something about him that seemed special, maybe it was his sad eyes idk but I knew that he was the dog for us and he was up until this week. I was the one to even name him Smokey, although he was technically my brother's present. He was intending to call him Midnight... but that name didn't suit him to me, so I vetoed it and he was named Smokey. Now I have had dogs all my life but none of them were like him. From the very beginning he was different. Scary is how I would describe him when we first got him he was scared of everything... he didn't like the dark and hated the rain. But he was also full of joy he would chase butterflies, roll around in the grass, and eat vegetables out of my mom's garden (which she hated). He had some trials and tribulations too, like when we found out that his eyelashes were growing inside out, and that he would eventually go blind but we saved his eyesight. My Step-dad somehow found some organization to pay for the $2000 surgery. The time I came home from work and didn't find him in out in the yard and almost had a heart attack. I searched and searched for him for hours, only to find out my brother had left the backdoor open and Smokey had only gone across the street to my neighbor's house and he was keeping him until we got home. He never strayed to far from home. 

There was the time we had other dog for awhile and her and Smokey got into a fight, and although that dog was a Japanese Akita and twice the size of Smokey (serious that damn dog was my height on her hind legs and I'm 5'10) and Smokey surprised everyone by literally beat the dog shit out of her before the fight was broken up. The absolute most memorable thing about him was when my Grandma died and I would just go sit on the back porch before anyone got home and Smokey would come up and sit with me and wouldn't move until I moved. He just somehow knew I need someone around and that is what he would do,  just sit with me. I didn't feel like talking or discussing my feelings about my Grandma's death, I just wanted to sit and be silent and that's exactly what Smokey would do with me. I could go on and go about Smokey, because that's how much of an awesome dog he was. Actually he was more than a dog he was my friend.... one I'm going miss very much. You know some may think that grieving a dog is trivial and that there's bigger issues going on in the world. That's true but to me this is my reality now my dog is gone and I'm sad....very sad. I feel like Jennifer Aniston in the last 5 minutes of Marley and Me. They didn't lie when they said a dog is a man's best friend and right now I miss my friend.  Love you always Smokey.