Goodbye Wrigley

"People are born so that they can learn to live a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice.... Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

We lost an extraordinary one today as Wrigley passed peacefully away with Mom and Dad by his side late this morning. He taught us so much in our almost eight years on earth with the most important being the meaning of unconditional love. He was a dog who brought so much joy and fun not only to our family, but to everyone who met him, and there is so much about him that will be remembered...

-his rolling in the grass the minute he got outside

-his amazing ability to distinguish between his stuffed animals and ours

- his tail that truly was a dangerous weapon

-his uncanny ability to cheer you up when you were sad

-his "roll" game where he'd simply lay on the floor and roll the ball back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with you using his nose

-his super sensitive nose and his ability to find his present in a stack of twenty other presents without fail, and then open it before asking permission

-Wiggles Bo Biggles, D-O-G, Piggly, and his many other nicknames

-his love of rolling in the snow, going for walks, and peanut butter ice cream

-his need to sleep by Mom in spite of my endless attempts to get him to sleep with me (LILY)

-his favorite things to hear were "go for ride", "walk", "want a treat", or "get your ball"

- his ability to tell the difference between his octopus, his rabbit, his dragon, his bear, his ball, his Frisbee, his rope, and his bone
-he was the world's largest lapdog

-his love of tug o' war especially with Morgan
-his deep sigh every night before he turned in for the night
-his refusal to allow anyone to hug his mom for more then 10 seconds...if you tried you faced endless barking or a good shove by his nose

-his LOVE of chap stick
-his strong back legs that when touched in a particular way caused him to rabbit kick you and earned his medical chart in AZ to be labeled with the words "freakishly strong"

-his love of swimming in the lake up at the cottage, our pool we had in AZ, or his kiddie pool we pulled out every summer

-his speed when chasing squirrels, deer, or bunnies in our yard

-his quiet nature where he would rather stand outside for hours than bark to have you let him in

-his journeys to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and cross country with Daddy and Uncle Choo-Choo

-his long walks in the canals with Grandpa Wayne in Arizona

-his green bean diet

-the magic words "ALL DONE" that he never disobeyed
-his need to go outside the minute after you sat down even if you had just asked him

-how he would "tear" around the yard or house for no apparent reason

-his love of having his butt scratched

We could go on and on because he was just that amazing, and who knows we may add more to the list as time goes on. Feel free to comment if you have any good ones too as we love to hear Wrigley stories. 

His illness was sudden and maybe that is what made it so hard to say goodbye or to believe he is really gone. We of course stole a few pictures of our last days together, and Wrigley mustered up the strength to walk outside with us this morning and see us off to school. It was his final goodbye to us, and one that we appreciated. I took time last night to draw a picture for everyone and taped some of Wrigley's hair to each one. The picture includes his water dish, collar, orange ball, food with his green beans, and Wrigley playing in the sun. This is what we want to remember, and slowly we will learn to go on without Wrigley, but he will always be tucked in our hearts. We love you buddy!