Shadow passed away last night at the age of 13.5. She really was a great friend. She was incredibly energetic, always showing off her toys, always looking to play a game. Whether the game be catch, or tug of war, or simply trying to avoid being fooled… “Who’s here!? Go see!”… she always loved to play. And yet she was so caring and emotional. If I were upset, she’d come nestle her head under my arms looking for a smile. When I came home from a semester of university, she’d ignore me for a few hours as her way of saying “Why the hell were you gone so long?” My family has a lot of great memories with Shadow and all of her funny quirks. One of my favorite memories with her was going down to the river bottom.
Shadow’s all-time favorite place to go was the river. It was her Disney Land.
Her favorite thing to do at the river was play fetch with rocks. You could tell she considered herself a pro. She’d eagerly await a pebble thrown her way from the shore so she could show off her skills.
The pebble was too small for her to see sometimes, but once she heard the sploosh as it struck the water, she’d take off for it, sloshing through the knee-deep water.
Arriving at the drop zone, she’d start feeling around for the right rock. Sometimes it would take her several minutes as she sorted through all the rocks with her little paws, but she knew exactly what she was looking for.
Once she found it, she’d drop her head in for a final visual inspection and retrieval.
And then she’d erupt with the biggest boulder her mouth could possibly fit.
She’d carry it around for three or four paces just to show how awesome she is, then plunk it back into the water. It was very important to her that you immediately threw another rock for her to find, otherwise she would freak out. “THROW A ROCK I CAN’T WAIT ALL DAY.” (She took lessons from my dad.)
Pebble after pebble, she’d pull up the biggest rocks she could find.
Because little rocks are for sissies.
And Shadow was awesome.
But really, she just loved playing in the river.
When it was time to go, she’d downright refuse to get out until we were practically driving away.
Eventually she’d force herself to come out.
And as we drove away in the truck she looked incredibly sad.
But I know she had great memories of the river. And great memories of her life. I’ll always have great memories of you, Shadow.