January 10, 2010 @ 10:18
If you frequent this blog often, you know that a large part of my life deals with a trailer that sits on a beautiful lake in the Kawarthas.
This coming year will mark our 19th summer in this little piece of paradise, and like most of the others in the park, once the New Year hits, we start counting down the days until the second Saturday in May when we "open up" for another season.
Unfortunately, this summer will be a bit different. It will require a transition for quite a few of us because we lost a good friend over the holidays.
I don't mean to be overly dramatic because I'm sure a few will find it odd that I'm talking about a dog, but this was a special dog. This was a dog that was part of the trailer fabric, a dog that had been around for 17 beautiful years, a dog that everyone loved.
Her name was Jo and belonged to my next door neighbors, Tracy and Dan.
Actually she belonged to Tracy well before she belonged to Dan, because Tracy and Dan didn't become an item until a few years after Tracy had bought Jo to be a companion in the new house she had bought.
From what I understand, Jo was a handful at the beginning. She liked to chew things and she liked to run away. In fact Tracy once told us that way back when, when Jo would run away, she actually hoped she wouldn't come back.
She was kidding of course because Jo turned into a quite the mutt, obedient, loving and extremely loyal. You've heard of invisible fences, well Jo had an invisible leash that was tied to Tracy's ankle. They were inseparable. Tracy was always in Jo's line of site and followed her everywhere.
Even when Tracy would go out on the water her Sea-Doo, Jo would run up and down the shoreline waiting for her to come back.
Needless to say, a lot of us fell in love with Jo, me in particular. Somehow along the way I bonded with this dog and she'd show her affection for me by literally putting her paws around my neck while I was sitting and then she'd put her head on my shoulder.
Sure, it might have had something to do with the bag of jerky-treats I kept in the trailer, but this dog had more depth than that. She was genuine.
She was also a great friend to my dog Billie. Billie was born after Jo, and died before Jo, but in between there was a special connection between these dogs that I've never witnessed before.
When we'd arrive on a Friday night I'd let Bill out of the truck and she'd immediately look for Jo, and they'd go through a bizarre ritual. Jo would growl, Billy would become submissive and roll on the ground, growling Jo would put her jaws around Billy's neck, softly of course, and then they'd jump up and take off never to be apart for the rest of the weekend.
It was a wonderful relationship. Most mornings when I'd get up, Jo would lying outside our trailer door waiting for Bill to come out.
When Billy died back in 2007, one of the hardest parts for me was going back up north and having Jo look for Billy.
Good dogs don't happen by mistake. They're an extension of the people who raise them so that tells you something about Tracy Calderone.
I haven't talked to Dan or Tracy yet and to tell you the truth, I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Seventeen years is a long time to have someone in your life so I imagine they're busted up right now. Hell, I'm busted up. I don't think I could get through the conversation.
I can only offer this. It's what I told myself after Billie died.
Dogs have short lives and the day you get them, is the first day of setting yourself up for guaranteed heartbreak. When they go you just have to keep thinking of the good things, the good times and the special moments.
And thanks to "our" wonderful Jo Jo, Tracy and Dan have a ton of those.
Category: Friends | The Trailer
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