Thursday was vivid; the sun unburdened. The trees were flowering—what a beautiful moment. Would that it would have lingered but life can move from Spring to Winter quickly and that happened to Marty and me. Deep winter.
Until yesterday we had our 5th edition of a black Labrador named Jazz and then we didn’t. We got the report mid-afternoon from the Vet. Jazz had a urinary track blockage that could not be repaired. And now she is gone. The sun was eclipsed and now I am struggling to retrieve memories—to hold on.
As we drove home from the Vet my wife and I recounted our joys and from time to time, what are now sad memories, turned poignant. None more vivid than our trip to the Vet in the New York Catskills with Jazz having been involuntarily festooned with porcupine quills. She was stoic; well what choice did she have? I suspect the scent lingered in her memory. It was her last encounter with the spiny beast.
Jazz, maybe instructed by the porcupine, liked people more than her four legged peers. At dog parks she made an inerrant path for those whose love would be reciprocated.
And boy did she love the Fall. I suspect most thick coated dogs are happy when the summer has given way. She loved trips in the field to be followed by our time together in a duck blind. The Fall’s temperatures were inviting and her eyes didn’t hesitate to go skyward as the waterfowl migration gathered force.
I’ll be telling Jazz stories until, well, I am done telling stories. She is gone but the memories will remain vivid. Expressions of love are like that!
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Deborah Piez says
I am so sorry for your loss. Would love to hear more memories of Jazz…