Day 4

It's freezing here in Chicago today. Nothing like gray and 45 degrees to start your weekend. Its my first bitter reminder that winter is just around the corner. Nothing worse for dog owners like myself, than freezing weather and a dog who takes her sweet ass time to go to the bathroom, like the picture here. That was taken in February 2004, the day we picked up Casey at the breeder.

Growing up, anyone who knows me and my family knows that we were not (and for the most part still aren't) dog lovers. Leah grew up with dogs her whole life and throughout the first 9 years of our relationship, she told me we were going to get a dog. I continued to tell her "not a chance in hell" and I would laugh about it with my dad. Dad had a famous dog story. When he and his two brothers were young, they all wanted a dog. My grandparents wanted no part of that, so my Grandfather, the great patriarch Arthur D, had a plan. They would practice with a make-believe dog first. He said in his great Hungarian accent "you want a dog, fine, lets see how you handle it." So, as my father told me years ago, Grandpop woke up my dad and my uncles at 2 am and said "wake up, its time to walk your dog."He made them put on clothes and go outside. The next morning, he woke them up for school and said "what are you doing? You have to feed and walk your dog before you go anywhere." Then when they got home from school, he did the same thing. After a day and a half of that routine, my dad and uncles changed their tune.

Now onto me. Leah had her eyes on this specific breed, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. She did research online and found a breeder in Iowa, www.puppystars.com. The whole time she was doing this research, I kept saying "sure, do whatever you want" thinking there was no way she would ever go through with it. She then emailed the picture of what would be our puppy and I had to admit, I thought she was adorable. So I caved. Off we went on Valentine's day 2004 to Centerville, Iowa, on the Iowa/Missouri border. We drove 6 hours and spent the night in lovely Ottumwa, Iowa, before waking up and driving the final hour to the breeder. Driving on those side roads through small town, USA was strange. I felt like we were in Mayberry. Well we picked her up and named her Casey. The rest as they say is history. The bottom line here is I went for a guy scared of dogs, never wanting to go near them or even pet them, to the guy who roles around on the floor with other peoples dogs the minute I meet them. Casey sleeps in between Leah and I every night. There is seriously nothing better than when I come home from anywhere and she comes running to the door. Its unconditional love. Never did I expect dog ownership to be this good and rewarding. She feels my sadness when I am down. Whenever I am having a low moment, maybe shedding a few tears missing my father, she senses it and curls right up next to me. If I love my dog this much, I can't imagine what it would be like if I had kids.

A quick moment of silence to my two favorite dogs of alltime: Mickey "The Bone Dog" Pavlish, coolest dog in Pepper Pike history. Nobody could lick beer off the floor or inhale smoke better than The Bone Dog. He wandered off and never came back somewhere in Clemson, South Carolina in 1997......Cleo Robuck, who brought her owners so much joy, begged at the dinner table for food until she couldn't beg anymore, and had to be put down last month.............

Song of the day: "Check the Rhyme" by A Tribe Called Quest. "If knowledge is the key, then just show me the lock. Got the scrawny legs, but I move just like Lou Brock."