I realize that there are a certain group of people who would consider eulogizing a dog to be silly or a waste of time. And that's fine. I get that. But those people clearly never had the privilege of getting to know Rufus. As much as a black mutt from the Pound can be one of a kind, Rufus fit the bill. I met Ruf in my single days back in early 1999. I was at the SPAC looking at puppies to adopt but was far more interested in the young lady working there than in the 8 week old lab-ish looking puppy with the bright eyes. Somewhere between flirting with the SPAC girl and trying t0 keep this little black puppy from climbing up my leg, I ended up going home with a new friend. Over the next ten years Rufus was with me on countless adventures. He was my roommate, my sounding board for anything going on in my life, and my jogging partner. We bonded over countless beers (I mostly drank the beers...but he was there). He saw me through my single years and was the only one who truly knew who I was or wasn't dating at any given time. In his later years Ruf fell in love with two new ladies in our lives. The first was my new wife, who he diligently protected when I was out of town for work. The second, a precocious young yellow lab puppy named Bella who he immediately embraced as part of the family. We spent our last night together as we had so many others, sitting together on the couch with a beer, watching a baseball game.
Rufus will be remembered as an avid hunter of squirrels and Jack Russell Terriors. He was a staunch defender of.....whatever it was he cared about, occasionally smacking down fools who dared to cross him. But there was a softer a side as well. He was a gentleman of leisure who enjoyed nothing more than sitting in the yard, baking in the sun for hours on end. His name will inevitably come up in any future discussion of "Greatest Dogs To Have Ever Lived", and one day children will sing songs of tribute to him. In the interim, Rufus will be sorely missed by both me and others.
Rufus 11/29/1998 - 6/19/2008.
"Smell ya later...forever", bro.
2 comments:
I think I speak for all of your friends who knew the Roof, he was one of a kind. I know we'll miss babysitting, even with the incessant circle wandering and collar shaking (we learned to take that off finally). He and Oscar were good friends and we loved knowing him.
Very well said. Ole Ruf was one he11 of a dog..freind, and he will be missed!
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