2 Deiters and a Dream

Smarty Jones
6-11-04 to 5-27-14

Goodbye dear friend.

Yesterday was a devastating day for us Deiters. Our dog Smarty Jones who has had back issues in the past experienced another episode that rapidly progressed into irreversible paralysis, and because of the pain and anxiety she was experiencing we had to love her enough to make the unbearable decision to put her to sleep. That we couldn’t be there in person and had to watch it over Skype hurts me in a way that I don’t have words for. The only solace is that my wonderful family was there with her on the other end, easing her out of this world with love and affection. Family, I cannot thank you enough for the strength and love and courage you showed in that moment. We will never forget it. I always said that leaving her behind was the most difficult thing about this trip, because friends and family understood what we were doing and that we would be back, but for her we kind of just walked out the front door. I comforted myself by watching those owner/dog homecoming videos (like where a soldier comes back from deployment and the dog just loses his mind with joy) and counted the days till I would see my friend again. Smarty came into my life soon after my father died and brought a beautiful light into some very dark days. A million things like watching her as a puppy unsuccessfully trying to keep her ridiculously large ears out of her bowl while drinking water, or running so fast in the park that her legs couldn’t keep up, made me smile and laugh and gave me the courage to face how sad I really was because I knew I had this little furry, floppy bundle of joy to help me through. Then with Tash, the three of us were a family. Thinking back its clear that Smarty was part of every one of our happiest memories, She was at our engagement party wondering when she would get her slice of cake. She was there to welcome us home from our Honeymoon and to celebrate when I found out that I became a nurse. She was there on all the walks where we found the time to plan this trip. She was always there on the edges just snoring on her chair in the corner, or sitting in front of you as perfectly as she could just in case you weren’t gonna eat all of that cheese on your plate. I loved so much about smarty. How she would drag her leash over to you in her mouth so you could get it through your thick skull that she wanted a walk, how she would hang out with/protect Tash when I was working nights, how she would get caught in the place between guilt and excitement when you got home and she had knocked over the trash to eat last night’s dinner, It’s like she knew she was about to get in trouble but she was still so pumped to see you, how she tolerated me dressing her up in stupid costumes, how she would lay on her back and snore so loud that you would have to turn up the TV, how she would knock my hands off my laptop with her nose when she wanted me to play with her instead of the internet, how randomly for like a year she would put herself to bed promptly at 9:55 (she would just get up off her chair, give us a look like “don’t stay up too late kids” and head up the stairs) how she would get so excited to see us when we came home that she would pee just a little bit, How she would make a chewing noise with her mouth in her sleep (like I love you too) when I rolled over in the night and scratched her belly next to my bed, how she would run really superfast in a straight line but was terrible at cornering, how she would click clack and click clack with her nails on our wooden floor on Saturday morning at 9 o’clock like she had an important business meeting to get to , only to go downstairs, and hop up on her chair and go to sleep (don’t you know I’m hung-over), how her standard for what deserved a treat went from balancing a biscuit on her nose to just consistently barking at the fridge like once every five minutes till Tash came downstairs from her home office and gave in. How she would zero in on non-dog lovers to convert them till even tash’s mom had to admit “if you had to have a dog, he was a good one” (she called her a he). I love how she loves cheese and popsicles and a bacon and a million other things and words can’t express how sad I am that when we finally come home she won’t be there. I don’t know how to write the end of this. I’m out of quick wit and smart comments. I always thought we would repay our 10 months of separation with 4 or 5 good years of treats and walks and bacon and vanilla ice cream and everything else a good dog deserves. I guess I’ll just say that I had the best dog ever, who was a great friend, who I loved more than ever, who came into my life right when I needed it, and who I’ll miss until the day I see her again.

We love and miss you Smarty Jones

Sean & Tash