Tributes: Abi

I have loved every precious, golden moment of our short 16 months together. I will miss the goofy way she tore around the yard at full speed with no regard for safety (her own or anything else’s) in complete defiance of her "senior" age. I will miss the way she patiently examined each tomato plant daily, waiting until the fruit was perfectly ripe so she could carefully pick and eat it with extreme stealth. I will miss the way she would stick her entire face into a pot of herbs and stand there just breathing, then come running into the house smelling of sunshine and fresh oregano, basil or parsley. I will miss how she could graze the tops off of the chives, mowing them nearly perfectly level like a lawn. I will miss the snores that could rattle the windows. I will miss the daily standoffs with the cat. I will miss how “Abi the Ho” loved men, and how she would abandon every woman including me if there was a man around who might want to pay her some attention. I will miss her lying belly-up, cradled in her big pillow, legs in the air and jowls thrown back over her face, napping with abandon. I will miss her drumming her front paws on the floor, impatient as I scooped her food from the bin. I will miss how feeding her brown rice would wreck her digestive system for days, but she could eat habanero salsa with impunity. I will miss her insatiable curiosity about everyone and everything. I will miss how her face would light up each time I reached for her collar and leash. I will miss her absolute certainty that any person we met on our walks was surely there to pet and admire her. I will miss how she charmed even the most dog-fearing people with her sweet way. And most of all I will miss how she loved to cuddle up, warm and soft, for hours. I am so grateful for the gifts she gave me, and for the time we had. She could not have been more loved.