The Kipper

Received word this evening that our old black lab Kipper passed away.  He has been battling cancer for the last several months and had actually done quite well for a time.  A couple days ago I got a message from Wendy, his owner, that he wasn't going to be around much longer and had lumps the size of oranges in his neck.  She said he passed quietly and they had shared a Hershey's chocolate bar today.  The kids were all a little sad. 

We didn't have the Kipper for too long, maybe a year.  He was a big dog and he was a bit of a baby.  Used to cry when we put him out in the yard.  I will remember how he used to come and lay at the entry to the kitchen with his head pointed at me and his eyes fixed on me whenever I would make the kids school lunches.  I didn't allow him in the kitchen when I was preparing food but he knew where he could hang out and he knew that eventually I would throw him some scraps.  What else do you do with bread crust that has to be removed from sandwiches or the occasional Cheetos that fall on the floor?  I will also remember going in to get a slice of my birthday cake and finding the entire second half of the cake gone.  What a sneaky bugger.  Then there were the many nights that he would walk through the house and wake me up with his tap dancing on the wood floors.  There was the day he and Andy played in the flour together and were covered or Natty and Jack would climb into his little kennel with him and close the door.  He certainly had some patience and was good to the kids. 

We were happy when we learned of his life with Wendy.  She lived on some land in Alaska, I think 8 or 9 acres.  He had a girlfriend, Aurora and from pictures Wendy shared he managed to work his way into the bed.  That didn't happen at our house... at least when I was home.  I did catch him on the furniture a time or two. Well, he enjoyed the outdoors and even mixed it up with a moose once.  He didn't do all that well against the moose but lived to talk about it.  I'm sure dogs talk to each other about old battle scars and the like.  Wendy called him her gentle giant.  He certainly was that.  We are grateful to have shared some time together with him.