An Era

Picture it...it was mid-February of 2013, a Saturday. Brad and I had just moved into our first apartment together, we'd only been married for about 2 months at the time. We were enjoying having all 5 of us under the same roof, 2 humans and 3 fur babies. Storm was quick to begin perfecting the art of keeping her new pug brothers in line. Quite a transition for her, to go from no siblings to 2 pug siblings. The boys have always done well with change, easily adapting to whatever situation their mommie put them in. Through the years they had moved several times, dealt with numerous climate changes based on state-to-state moves, and coped with going from having a backyard to having none. My super versatile puggies! Now it was time to relax a bit into a new place with a new "family" dynamic.

Cody loved Brad from the start of our courtship. Cody likes trying to do his best to be impressive to newbies. As for Simon, he made Brad work a little harder to get to know him. Simon was super comfortable in his own fur and didn't feel the need to work hard for others attention. During our courtship Brad openly questioned at times whether or not Simon "really" liked him. I never fretted about it because I better understood Simon's personality. A cool, smooth little dude. No need to worry about what he likes and doesn't like, he's a super chilled out little man.

Back to my story it was a Saturday afternoon in February of 2013, Brad was playing football on his Xbox. We were going to have company over later that night. Of course, you all know by now, if company is coming I'm likely baking or cooking up something! I had brownies in the oven but I needed to walk the boys. I asked Brad to get the brownies out of the oven when the timer sounded. He quickly agreed and told me "no problem". He added the "no problem" part because I briefly questioned if he would ignore the timer sounding to continue playing football. LOL! Fast forward to about 20 minutes later when I return with the boys, I unleashed the boys right before opening our front door so they were free to go inside without their leash. Upon entering the place the smell of my brownies filled the room. I hear Brad's game still going in the background, I briefly scan the room noticing Brad sitting on the sofa. As Brad begins to speak to me my eyes spot the disaster! My entire pan of brownies is laying upside down on the kitchen floor. Wouldn't you know I spotted this disaster at the exact same moment Simon did. I reached down to grab him and restrain him from diving face first into an entire pan of brownies. I grabbed him in the nick of time. Not a half-second too early or too late. I think at that very moment though Simon had a new appreciation for his new daddy. If this "daddy-guy" was going to regularly drop things out of the oven then return to his video game before cleaning it up Simon was going to be fast friends with his daddy. When Simon's eyes noticed the large pan of brownies laying on the floor without a doubt Simon believed he had entered heaven.

Well this past Wednesday Simon entered heaven as he moved on from this earth. After a horrible bout of seizures and not being able to recover from his stomach issues he died in my arms on Wednesday morning. About 20 minutes before he passed I held him on my right side then brought Cody up to my left knee. I took Cody's paw and had him "pet" his little brother one last time. I did my best to help Cody say goodbye. Officially and very sadly to me the "Cody and Simon era" has ended. Cody is once again the only pug in the household.   

Simon's dementia, seizures, and stomach issues had taken a tremendous toll on him. Since the last week of December he's been failing quite rapidly. He had good days but too many bad days. Yet he was a trooper through it all. I know he is in a better place now. In my mind there is no doubt my dad that passed away so long ago was likely super anxious to meet his little grandson puggie. He likely greeted Simon at the gates of heaven with the largest jar of peanut butter available.

Simon was buried at my in-laws place. His little grave will always exist. Super thankful to have had so many years with my little man. I'm going to miss him terribly. He was the total package...curious, adventurous, sweet, cuddly, yet he had a tough guy demeanor too. Even though he was only a small pug, even smaller than his big brother, he thought he was just as big as a Rottweiler or German Shepherd. In his youth he commonly ran with the big dogs when I'd take him to the park. He could put on quite the show at the dog park, as people watched on with puzzled looks on their faces to see a pug outrunning a big athletic dog.

He might not be here physically but we'll never forget him. I was honored to be his human mommy. And Brad despite not knowing him from his puppy days has cried as many tears as I have. Since Brad and I got married him and "Simon the diamond" bonded majorly well. The interactions of the two of them always made me smile. Rest in peace now little man, rest in peace!