Remembering Bandit (and Tommy)

This was a sad weekend.  Our Border Collie, Bandit, died at 3am Sunday morning.  We were all with him.  He had an "episode" last week that made the vet think his anti-siezure medication dosage needed to be increased.  But in reality he had lung cancer. 

It was clear he out-ranked me in the family, but I didn't mind.  My wife and kids love him like he was our hairy toddler who somehow never learned to talk.  Instead of me writing about Bandit, I'd like to share what my wife posted about him on Facebook:

Bandit was an amazing dog. Always loving. When you had a bad day - you could look at that face and everything seemed ok. The most sweetest temperament of any dog I've ever seen. Loved to cuddle next to you. Still wanted to be held like a baby even though he weighed over 40 pounds and had those long legs. Always willing to share his food and water with visiting dogs. His one Lassie moment came when I was moving boxes in our storage room and tripped. I fell flat on the concrete floor and the box opened and everything landed on top of me. Bandit runs in hearing the commotion. I tell him to go get the kids. All I saw was a blur of black and white fur as he ran from the room. Instead of people he brings in his toy and lays it on my chest. I realized then we didn't have a Lassie. What we had was better. The most loving and gentle dog. Greeting us at the door. Dragging us on his leash when he went for walks. Always happy to meet new friends whether they were people, dogs or cats. He will be missed by all of us and all that knew him. Love you Bandicoop!

PS – My wife called me this morning, hovering on the edge of tears.  We agreed this was a sad, but hopefully useful experience for the kids.  She said she was really, REALLY going to need my help when the time comes that her dad passes away.  I asked who was going to help her when I go.

Wife:  I can count on Suzy (a friend) to help me.  Me:  I’m not out-living Suzy???

Some may think what I said was inappropriate, but she thanked me for helping her laugh.  She needed it.  (We can never share that with Suzy.)


Edit:  Bandit deserves his own post, I'll remember Tommy (the cat) in a later one.