My best chum Stafford

She came into our lives on a Sunday morning in January of 2012. She was a one-year old rescue dog and for me, it was love at first sight.

We gave her a new name to signify the start of a new beginning for her. From the first day that this beautiful shepherd husky mix came into our lives she was known as Stafford, named after our favourite Detroit Lions football player.

Stafford was a bit wary of me at first. She became attached to others in the family right away but kept a bit of distance from me, a sign perhaps that the previous male figure in her life wasn’t that nice to her.

But it wasn’t long before Stafford and I bonded and became best friends. In that I worked from home — and still do — Stafford and I were very seldom apart. We had our daily walks in the neighbourhood on lower Pine St. and in short, we were never apart for very long periods of time.

In fact, the few times we were apart for more than a few days or so came when my wife, Mary, and I would go to Detroit for a Lions game or a Tigers game and we would leave her in the splendid care of the good people at Pet Pleasures.

When we moved downtown five years ago, Stafford and I quickly established a daily route of walks from our Spring St. dwelling to the area around us. We walked and we walked and we hugged and we kissed. (Well, mostly she allowed me to hug and kiss her!) Yes, she could be a bit aloof but all it took was the way she looked at me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek for me to know that she loved me as much as I loved her.

We met many people on our walks together. Just about every time we met someone new they would marvel about how beautiful she was. Like seriously, if I heard the phrase “what a beautiful dog” once then I heard it a thousand times.

We also had frequent car rides together to the grocery store or on other errands. If she knew I was heading out on an errand, she would assume that she would be coming with me. And 99 per cent of the time, she did.

She loved it best when Mary and I and her were home together. At the same time, when we told her that we were going out for a few hours, she would be fine. She would wait for us to come home and never — not once — did we come home to a mess or anything out of place. She was so well behaved and so appreciative of everything.

Stafford had a special bond as well with many members of the family. She had her favourites and would leap up and kiss them when any one of her favourites came to visit. She loved her favourite people as much as they loved her.

In late May of 2022, Stafford was diagnosed with a serious illness. We were told that she might last only a few months. But she defied the odds and lived — and lived pretty well — for just over another eight months.

Our lives changed a bit after her diagnosis and an operation. She had to pee more frequently. Thus, her and I took to going outside every two to three hours, all day, all night, every day. It didn’t bother me, the interrupted sleep. My love for Stafford would not allow me to feel anything but love for her.

She left us on Sunday morning, February 5. She seemed fine right up until the day before. But the illness finally caught up with her and she passed away peacefully, in the arms of Mary and me, with our vet and our nephew close by. I kissed her face as she gently slipped away from us, my arms still around her.

I am absolutely shattered at having lost my Stafford. I feel lost without her. I really don’t know what I am going to do without her daily company and unconditional love.

I have a hurt in my heart and tears that won’t go away. But the love that Stafford and I had for one another and every second of time that I got to spend with her is more than worth the emptiness that I feel at this time.

I love you, my Stafford. I already have your picture in my pocket and I will carry it with me, just as I have carried Mika’s picture all of these years. (Mika was our dog before Stafford.)

The sadness I feel is so, so overwhelming. But I have my wife and my kids and my grand daughter and their dogs to continue to hold dear to me.

And meantime — and all of the time — I will have Stafford in my heart. I love you so much, my Stafford. Thank you for loving me in return. I loved you from the first day we met. I will love you until my last breath.