What follows are a few of our more fond memories, along with a few photos and videos of her.
Ash used to love watching me cook in the kitchen. One day I was cooking and in the course of what I was doing I opened the oven. For some reason it got her attention. I wondered why. I asked her as a joke “You wanna get in the oven?” At this she jumped with excitement, like I was offering her the most incredible adventure imaginable. For days afterward, the question induced the same excitement. It was so funny. When we told John about it he taunted her with it for months with the same joke.
Ash relished food so much that it was a joy to save little treats for her when we’d eat out. We’d take home fries, or even a cheeseburger. She didn’t exactly savor it, horking it down before we could finish saying “go for it.” I can’t help but think she just relished the anticipation.
In spite of her love for scraps and human food, she had a rather sensitive system. Once we made the mistake of buying a huge Costco bag of food for her. We accidentally bought the weight control formula, which was high in fiber. After only a day of eating it, she had terrible diarrhea.
Ash with diarrhea felt a little like feeding an infant late at night. We’d wake up in the dead of the night to her insistent, urgent whines. I’d get up, muttering, slip on my robe and slippers to take her out, wondering all the while if it’s really my turn or if Amy should do it this time. Instead of following her around while she searched for a spot to go, like normal, I just let her off her leash. She'd run off across the grass, sniffing furiously for a suitable spot, take care of business, and come right back when I called, even if that call was only a whisper.
We ended up giving the food away on Craigslist. We had to stick with Purina One or nothing. Of course, she had to have expensive taste. She always had a little bit of a princess in her.
Her name suited her. She was named for a dog in a book called Deerskin by Robin McKinley. She comforts the heroine of the book through difficult times. Ash did that for both of us.
When Amy found Ash, our marriage was in real trouble. We had been right on the brink of divorce right around that time. Ash gave us something to love and work on together, training her and enjoying her little personality in our lives. Amy says during that time she would hold Ash on her lap and just cry. She was always so affectionate and sensitive to our needs. Even when I was angry or upset about something she didn’t get scared; she’d come over to me and put her chin on my lap and look at me with those irresistible eyes of hers. She helped bring us back together by helping us see in each other the things that made us want to get married in the first place.
Ash was a peaceful, loving influence in our home, and that’s what we will miss the most. It’ll be impossible to completely replace her. She was one of a kind.
In loving memory,
2006-2009
-Tom
3 comments:
So sorry to hear about your loss. We know she meant a lot to you.
I'm so sad. She was such a sweet dog and I loved the way you both took care of her. Tom, I realized you should have had a dog when you were little.... you were so great with her!
I'm sorry. I love you both.
So, when you first posted this I read just enough of it to find out that she had died. Tonight I read the rest of it and I'm totally sitting her crying. Isn't it kind of insane how much something as seemingly insignificant as a pet can change your life? Maybe it's partly the fact that they aren't even trying to make a difference to us that allows them to affect us in such a genuine way... I'm pretty sure that last sentence didn't make much sense, but you know what I mean!
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