Brown Eyed Atti

Last fall as we gathered with family for the holidays, I had this foreboding feeling that it would be the last one that looked like that. My heart knew 2022 would come with change and loss and I wanted to be prepared. 

But honestly I thought I had more time....

Once upon a time we adopted a dog. He was a cute little rescue from our local pound. 

We named him Atticus.

 

His other names were Atti, Catticus (baby Alice), sweet boy, nephdog and granddog.

He came housebroken. He hated a crate and he shed like crazy. In the beginning, he got car sick. He buried his bones in the backyard.

He ADORED His Man. He tolerated The Woman. He didn't eat The Child. 

If I was cuddling with my Beloved, he would come and insert himself between us. 

He was a brat. 

He laid on ALL the things not his. He would look you right in the eye as he placed his foot on your [insert item here]. He managed to get a foot on Alice's beloved Kiki whenever he could.

He always knew exactly where you were stepping next and planted himself in that exact spot RIGHT before you stepped there. He also waited until you were perfectly settled in to your seat and about to take your first bite of a meal to scratch on the door to go out.

He was a picky eater and refused to drink out of metal bowls or those auto fill water bowls that go "glug, glug". He could remove any of the tiniest particles of food from his food that he didn't like. He would just carefully take them in his mouth and deposit them next to his bowl. He would devour pizza crust. He knew what time he got a treat at night and would throw a full on fit until he got it. 

He also knew what time His Man got home and he would wait by the door. 

If you ended up in his spot on the couch - he would stand and stare. And when that didn't work, he would climb on your lap until you moved.

He wasn't big on being manhandled but he loved to have his butt scratched. 

He hated the vacuum. He slept on our bed. He loved to be closer to His Man. He begrudgingly let Alice dress him up and then rolled all over her Lego designs. He always needed to be in the middle of all the things. 

We will be cleaning up dog hair for the rest of our lives.

He spent the last several years in my office on the CareBear couch he claimed as his. Moving this out of my office is going to absolutely crush me.

He had expressive eyes that let you know exactly what he was thinking. 

He is all Alice has ever known - there was not a Before Atti time for her.

He was ours for 12 years. 

Today we said good bye.

Letting him go has been absolutely heartbreaking.

He will forever be a part of our lives.

Sweet boy, it was an honor to have you be a part of our family. 

Even when you made our eyes twitch. Or woke us up barking at nothing. Or refused to eat the homemade treats I made you. 

I hope you are whole again and treat time is 24/7. 

We love you.

PS: When you get to where you're going, if you see a black Lab named Woody - tell him we love him too.

Until next time......