Farewell, Rupey

my parents were down over the weekend and brought some sad news. our little dog rupert was put to sleep on thursday. little rupey had a tumor growing inside of him and it simply took over. i don't really want to dig into details here...... all that matters is that he's no longer in pain.

we had a dog when we were younger - bandit - and, for strictly selfish reasons, we probably kept him with us a week too long. my parents swore they would never do that again....make a dog suffer so as not to lose him.

little rupert was never a planned part of the family. we had lost bandit and just brought spencer into the clan. spencer was to be the first part of my grand plan for my parents: a dog named spencer and a cat named katharine (yes, very gay). but one day my dad came walking up the driveway and a tiny, black terrier mix followed him all the way.

he was adorable - and so tiny. as black as night. he couldn't have been very old......

we put signs up (reluctantly) and said we would try to find his family. it only took a couple of hours before we all wanted to claim him as our own. we never heard from anyone and we didn't keep the signs up very long. we believe he was abandoned in our neighborhood by a family who couldn't care for him. they figured it looked like a nice neighborhood and he'd find a good home.

he couldn't have found a better one............

five dog fanatics.... and my brothers have married two other dog lovers. and rupert did receive a lot of love from his family. he was always next to someone. in a chair or on the couch. asleep at night or while we were eating at the table. a constant presence - often pushing his way into a seat next to someone - no matter who that meant pushing out of the way.

he and spencer were best of friends. and when spencer died we worried about rupey. but then sasha joined the family - a wild and rambunctious puppy - and this gave rupert something new to do. terrorize the newbie.

my parents headed home today...... it's the first chance i've had to really dwell on rupert's passing since it happened. the weekend was busy and wonderful but this was always in the back of my head. and i find it difficult to type these words.

i worry more for my parents. they return home tonight and rupert will not be there. they'll sleep without his little body between them. but perhaps the memories of thirteen years with our littlest family member will help them fall asleep.

rupert - we will miss you.

e.