when we lost kody seven years ago (how has it been that long ago) he was two days shy of his 15th birthday and since then we have not had a dog live long enough to celebrate that milestone. although i do not want to disparage him, there’s a slight possibility that kody put a spell on us to ensure no one outlives his lifespan. i have no doubt this spell was not malicious, however, it has caused me quite a bit of pain and worry and i’ve been ready to find some eye of newt to whip up a potion and dispel the spell.
as of yesterday i can forget the eye of newt because murray singlehandedly kicked that spell’s ass as we celebrated his 15th birthday. this dog…oh this dog! murray has been much lauded on this blog and i'm sorry to say more is to follow. please indugle me as i'm celebrating him today...i’ll try to make it quick (if this isn’t enough for you i would suggest reading this or just click on “murray” on the right hand column and read it all).
it has always been my contention that murray has more spirit than the dallas cowboy cheerleaders but he’s actually blown them out of the water (and i’m a product of the seventies so i mean the real dallas cowboy cheerleaders). in 2008 after a very bad back diagnosis our vet told us we probably wouldn’t have too long with him but with acupuncture and chiropractic along with his steel iron will that was proven wrong. in 2009 he suffered a bout of “old dog” disease and we were told his condition might not improve or if it did he would likely get it again yet his strong like bull strength struck again and he was fine. in the last few months he had been slowing down and it seemed like what i have been dreading the most was imminent. add to that some growths we’ve been following for years were getting too big and would need to be taken care of and things were looking grim. a few weeks ago along with our vet we decided we had to take the chance of sedating him to remove the growths. fortunately he made it through the surgery fine and after a week of recuperating something magical happened and he experienced a murray renaissance. it’s like he rewound his life back a few months and seems vital again. whether the surgery actually awoke some healing vibes or his amazing spirit took over i don’t know but i thank whatever it was wholeheartedly. i don’t know how much time i have with him but you can be sure i will savor it…at this point i’ve gotten to spend 15 years with this amazing spirit and he’s broken a horrible streak so i’m thankful. i imagine years from now after he’s gone my heart will remain in the shape of him. i hope you’ll indulge me in a little photographic murray retrospective:
celebrating his 15th!