Ever since my mom Wendi started her blog, she has given me a chance to write posts every so often. While I typically love to do it, I must admit I wasn’t too excited this time. The reason is ’cause I am writing about one of my dearest friends who left me this week to go to the rainbow bridge. My grandparents’ dog Corky left us late on Tuesday night.
Corky was a Beagle Labrador mix. He was about 12 years old. I met him when he was 9, but my parents are the ones responsible for him being part of the family. Back in 2004 Mom and Aunt Randi thought Grandpa needed a dog. I guess he had been sick in 2003 and they thought a dog would keep him company and maybe even get him out to exercise. Since Grandma also agreed, the family was on the lookout. Then one Sunday evening when my dad, Bobby, was working at The Daily Record, he heard about a dog being dropped off at the fire station. Dad offered to take him to Lodi for Grandpa to meet him. Grandpa and Grandma fell in love with him and decided to adopt him into the family. I’m really glad they did!
Corky was a great friend. He loved to hang out with me whenever I came over. I have spent a lot of time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house because of Mom’s blog. I’m pretty comfortable there and Corky never minded me sitting with Grandpa on his chair. Sometimes Corky would even get up there with me.
Corky also loved to play with me. I can’t tell you how many hours we spent wrestling. We would sometimes get a little rowdy and make the family think we were fighting, but we really weren’t. We were just having fun. We also played chase. Corky would chase me and I would run through the house at breakneck speed. He couldn’t catch me, because I was so fast, so sometimes he’d just wait as I would tear through the kitchen and then catch me on my way back. It was so much fun!
Corky enjoyed going outside and checking things out through the chain-link fence. Uncle Shaun put in a doggie door at my grandparents’ house so us dogs could come and go as we pleased. Sometimes Corky would go to the gate between the house and the garage and see what was going on across the street. He even told me that he could escape through there and wander up the street. I guess he did it one too many times, because Grandpa finally fixed it so he couldn’t.
One of the many things Corky and I have in common is our general distaste for anybody who delivers items to the house. It can be the UPS guy or the Fedex man, but mostly the mailman really gets our blood pumping. I have seen Corky get riled up when the mailman was five houses away on the other side of the street! We would have so much fun just barking and barking at him. Corky would even run through the house to bark at him from the front window until the wretched man was out of sight. It isn’t that we dogs have something personal against any one mailman, we loathe them all equally. No offense!
Corky loved to eat. If Grandpa and Grandma were eating at the kitchen table, Corky was there. Often he would sit beside Grandpa just waiting for him to share some of his meal with him. Grandpa never disappointed either. And if it took too long, or maybe had been a long day, Corky would lay under the table. He was always ready for a sample wherever food was involved. But he wasn’t pushy, he would just look at them with his beagle face and be rewarded. I’m a bit more persistent than that. If I want something to eat, I’ll let you know. Trust me!
Above everything Corky loved his parents (my grandparents). I could tell because he would hang out with them, wherever they were–in the kitchen, in the living room, in their bedroom. I think that he might have joined them in the bathroom too, but I never asked. Seriously that is just TMI (too much information)! He would love to take Grandpa for walks. He and Grandpa would walk around the block in Lodi. Once they got to the center of town Corky would let Grandpa have a rest on one of the benches. Then when Grandpa was ready to move on, Corky would lead the way home. Grandpa liked to remind Mom that people called Corky “adorable.” It’s the beagle blood, we are just too cute for words!
I think we’re going to visit Grandma and Grandpa later today. It will be my first time there since Corky left. I’m glad that I saw him on Monday night. Mom had gone to Lodi for something and she took me with her. Corky and I just hung out. Grandma and Grandpa said he didn’t seem to feel well. I tried to not be too rambunctious. As Mom, Grandma and Grandpa went to visit a family whose father had passed away, Corky and I just relaxed together at the house. It was the last time we got to do that. I wonder what it will be like to visit Grandma and Grandpa now. I guess I’ll have to be sure to give Grandpa lots of attention, since Corky isn’t around anymore. And if I’m there when the mailman comes, I’ll be sure to bark at him in honor of Corky. He was a good friend and I think I’m going to miss him a lot.
