Swissy
Livin' the retired life!
'Amber' Sterling
Trout Creek's Alaskan Black Gold
2002-2011
It's with the utmost and deepest sadness that I have to write this... my once in a lifetime pet... my faithful companion of 9 years... my best friend... is gone. Our trip to Hawaii was cut short by a phone call, the ultimate buzzkill, and I barely made it back in time to see her, but I did at least get that.Trout Creek's Alaskan Black Gold
2002-2011
They say that every pet owner gets a 'once in a lifetime' pet. That one pet that is special, above any other pet they have had the pleasure of taking care of. That one pet that means more that anything else. That was Amber. Thru all the crap in my life - my back, my wife's health decline, my father passing, no family, everything... there was Amber. She was the one constant in my life - I could always look to her to make me smile, to make me feel good. I could count that every morning, without fail, that when I walked in the door from work she would be bouncing around, wagging her tail, and giving me her ultimate joy - a special 'Baroo' they make only when they are really happy. I called it her happy place, and that's why I named my boat the Swissy Baroo, because it's *my* happy place. Her attitude was something else, and she was very self aware. We'd catch her posing in the mirror, looking at a spot on her side that had been shaved, that she could ONLY see in the mirror. And she'd move around until she had the best view possible, then slightly adjust her body for different angles of view. She had a huge word vocabulary - I was cutting up leftover steak and she came up, dropped a toy on my foot, stamped her paw, and looked at me expectantly. My wife said 'Amber, it's steak, it'll take 2 for a piece' and we both kind of chuckled. That is until she walked back in with another toy, dropped in on my foot (right next to the other one), stamped her foot, and sat down. She cocked her head, looked at me VERY expectantly, and had that look as is she was saying... well, where the hell is my steak??!?!? And there is a ton of these kind of stories... ones I will remember forever.
I hurt like I've never hurt before... I feel like one of those cheesy martial arts movies where someone punches into your chest and pulls out your heart, showing it to you before you die. It's taken me 4 days to start this post, and it's taken me over an hour to actually write it. I've lost pets before, and am sure I'll lose more, and life goes on. But it sucks. And now my main focus is her mate, my other Swissy Porter. It's painfully obvious that he's in mourning too. So I have to keep my chin up, and keep us busy. My wife is calling it the 'Amber Sterling Memorial Fitness Challenge' since I'm going to get his and my fat ass is shape. We haven't gotten out as much, or gone as far, as Amber was slowing down and I didn't want to push her too much. But now we can do more, whether he wants to or not.
Most may not know about some of the things in my life I mentioned, and have not seen any posts regarding such... because I haven't done so. I'm more of a private guy, and don't broadcast things like this. But this one time I had to. But please, along those lines, please refrain from posting 'thoughts and prayers sent'. (I would actually lock the thread after posting this if I could... Rod?) Instead, just give your pet - dog, cat, bird, fish... whatever... a little extra love and attention.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Jim
PS... if you are one of the ones that laughs at people and their pets, or doesn't understand the bond between pet and owner.. then CERTAINLY DO NOT POST ANYTHING. I don't want to hear what you would say anyways, and it would lead to you on my ignore list.
