Celebrating Zeke

Yesterday was certainly a tough day and it breaks my heart to say that Zeke has passed on and that I'll never see him again in this world. However, I think the best way to remember him is to celebrate him.  And the best way to do that is to tell a few of Jim and my favorite stories and share exactly why he managed to steal our hearts so magnificently.

Zeke was born on February 17, 1997.  He was 7 weeks old when we found each other and lived two days past his 16th birthday. He was such a good dog and came into my life when I needed him most. You see, in January of that year, my life changed dramatically: I had finally left a bad relationship but in doing so, I lost the love of another pup (I had to leave Healy behind). Within a couple months, and with the help of my family, I was back on my feet, living by myself again (well, I had Boo and Betty).  One thing missing, however, was the love of a dog, so in April, I gathered my resources and went looking.  In my mind, I had my future pup picked out: medium-sized and definitely female because I wanted to name her Sadie. I arrived at the animal shelter and found out they had only one puppy available.  And STINK!!!  It was a male.  But, I went to look at him anyway.  His name was Ringo and he was the last of a litter of 4 boys (his brothers, John, Paul and George had already been adopted). As I came down the run, this little black pup jumped up on the kennel door and whined.  When I saw him I was done.  I opened the door, picked him up and never looked back.  Of course on the way home as he climbed into my lap while I drove, I told him, "I didn't bargain for a boy!  I don't have a name picked out for a boy! What am I going to do with a boy!?"  When I got home, I called Maggie and explained my dilemma and she is the one who came up with his name:  Zeke (after my grandfather - my mom's dad) and it fit him perfectly.  Zekey Zoo!

Another story that illustrates one of the not-so-perfect moments with Zeke: Jim and were headed up to PIB for our week in June.  We took Zekey along. When we arrived at the cottage, we opened the doors to the car and let Zeke roam (this was something that wasn't possible when he was younger as he'd bolt but in his more advanced years, he stayed near). He immediately headed to the Bahney's where Opi, the German Shepherd was posted.  Together, they explored the point and about 10 minutes later, after emptying the car, I looked around for my boy. Jim was talking to Bob Bahney and I said, "Have you seen Zeke?" Jim: "He's over on the Point, somewhere near the boathouse." So I look across the way and see him on the shore with his head down, nosing at something.  I squint and say, "What does he have?" And then he drops and starts rolling around on his back. You know, the type of rolling around that you never want to see a dog do because they've found something disgusting and stinky to coat their fur with.  He's rolling and rolling and then standing up and getting whatever it is behind his ears and I'm yelling, "ZEKE!  ZEKE!!!  STOP ROLLING!!!" And then I see something flop up in the air and I yell, "A FISH!!! HE FOUND A DEAD FISH!!!"  Zeke had found a ginormous DEAD carp and proceeded to slather himself in its guts!  I'm not kidding you - you have NEVER smelled anything more foul.  Jim was forced to bathe him outside (it happened on his watch!) trying to hold his nose but not quite managing to keep the odor from his senses and barfing on the sidewalk. Zeke got sick too (pretty sure he gobbled some bad sushi) and he didn't smell right for days.  UGH!

A final story:  Zeke was like any typical dog:  When he would go to take a nap, he liked to "make his bed"...you know - turning in circles and pawing at the carpet to find the right spot.  One of his favorite places to sleep for a while was in the guest bedroom on the floor right next to the bed.  This room is right above the family room so every time he'd go up to nap, we'd hear this pawing, pawing, pawing, scrape, scrape, scrape.  And as he advanced in age, he took much longer to find the best spot and prepare it for sleep.  I'm not kidding you - he could "make his bed" for 10 minutes...it was ridiculous! It finally got to the point where I kept a broom in the family room to pound on the ceiling to get him to stop (his advanced age also made him slightly deaf and he couldn't hear me yelling for him to stop but he could sure hear and feel the pounding of the broom under his feet). The funny thing with this was, when I'd pound on the ceiling, every time, he'd stop...listen and then not being able to figure out what it was, we'd hear him ambling down the stairs and he'd peek his head around to where we were sitting in the family room and look at us like: "DID YOU HEAR THAT!?  WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?"  It was so funny.

There are so many other stories that I could tell about Zeke. Sixteen years has left me with a lot of memories and I'm so thankful that Jim and I were able to give him such a great home during that time.  More than that though, I'm thankful that he loved us, unconditionally. A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself (Josh Billings) and Zekey reminded me of that every day.  Miss you Zekey Zoo - a part of my heart is now in heaven with you!