TAKE HOME BABY ;)

Stoli Taking it Easy

Aaah the day we brought Stoli home was a day we will never forget. Kevin had wanted a dog for quite some time and I was dragging my feet because of my 16-year old cat. I didn't want Kitty to have to compete with a dog (especially a puppy) during the last few months of her life. But Kevin was persistent and came home one day from work and said "I have something to show you." So he opens up his laptop and pops open Petfinder.com and shows me a picture of the silliest looking dog you can imagine. I just looked at him and said "Show me some other dogs." We flipped through several pages and numerous other dogs but we kept coming back to "Sampson" aka Stoli. :) There was just something about Stoli that tugged at our (well, Kevin's anyway) hearts.

Day we brought Stoli home
(all cleaned up)

Since we were celebrating Kevin's legal residency into the United States (he is Canadian) the next day, we decided to go visit the rescue kennel where Stoli was located. When we first got there, we went to the front desk and announced that we were there to take a look at "Sampson." The lady behind the desk was thrilled. She told us immediately "Oh, you will love Sampson. He is such a clean dog. He even poops in the other dog's kennels and then goes and lays in his own." That made us laugh. So off we went to see "Sampson."

When we first got to the meet and greet area, I was a bit nervous. So many dogs running around and it wasn't particularly a clean place. I was scheduled to be back at work later that morning and Kevin was "hoping" to go home with our new pet. As I was looking around, all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye, I see this dog running full force towards me. He jumped up on me with poop all over his paws. You guessed it….. I had poop from the top of my jacket all the way down to my knees. As I was standing there looking at the gift of nastiness that Stoli just left me, and thinking, uh, yeah, I so don't want a dog, Kevin was standing there with tears in his eyes asking ever so gently "Can we get him please?" How could I say no to THAT! :)

With the promise of a clean dog by time I got home, off they went to go get spiffed up and off I went to find a place where I could freshen up and get rid of the jacket I had on (remember I still had to go to work). Kevin did clean Stoli up by time I got home, but he still had kennel cough and it was just plain nasty for a few weeks. But once that cleared up, he wasn't so bad. Although I must say Kitty never warmed up to Stoli and was REALLY ticked when we brought him home and would not come upstairs anymore. :( She died 6 months later and had it not been for Stoli, I would have been a complete basket case. He provided me with so much love and comfort during those weeks and months of grieving.

My Kitty (the day we brought Stoli home)

Shortly after bringing Sampson home, we decided that our new dog would be named Stoli because Sampson he was not! Stoli not only took to his new name but also to his new home. I can't say that I immediately fell in love with Stoli but over time I fell head over heels and he became Mommy's boy and Daddy's buddy. He was everything you would ever want in a dog, obedient, loving and loyal. Stoli definitely wasn't the most attractive dog at the rescue kennel that day, but somehow he touched our hearts, and we knew he needed us and we needed him. Little did we know how he would change our life and become such a huge part of it. He became and was our baby!

The pleasure and love he gave us was immeasurable, which makes our grieving and mourning feelings very powerful. Although he didn't speak human, he communicated with us in his own unique ways which formed an incredibly strong emotional bond with us. Someday we hope to think about Stoli without shedding a tear and only remember the good times and not just the last month of his life. Some may tell us to get over it but we feel a loss is a loss and the loss of genuine, unconditional love of any kind is certfiably painful. He was so much more than that dreadful disease lymphoma. He was our baby, our champion and he will be greatly missed.

Enjoying the sunshine

We have to always remind ourselves that our decision was made in love, and not allowing Stoli to suffer was out of compassion. We considered Stoli's best interests over ours even though it was tough and so we refuse to feel guilty or regret our decision. One way that we feel we can honor and preserve Stoli's memory is to create a memorial garden in his honor. We will post pictures as the garden progresses. Until then we will hold dear the memories we have in our hearts.