NO CHORE FOR CHEWIE

CHEWIE

I want to be more like my dog.  Oh I don’t mean for the pampering, or the plush life he may lead…no I want his kind of personality that just goes with the flow for everything that gets thrown at him. 

Chewie is 16 years old.  Recently he became blind and he lost his hearing.  He still has his scent tracker working but after the lawn gets mowed even that becomes a challenge for him until he marks a new trail.

As I watched him this morning trying to get around a flower that drooped and got in his way, I saw a patient yet determined guy just keep tapping with his nose until he could step out and away from this thing that kept bumping him.  He reminded me of one of those bumper cars you see crashing into a wall, back up and go another direction—crash again—backup.

Chewie is a 4 pound chihuahua.  His breed is normally a one person dog who will take your leg off.  Chewie was never like that with us.  My son, Aaron, first brought him home to us when he left the Air Force.  He had him for four months by this time so Chewie bonded to him first.  But it did not take long for him to snuggle up to us and become a part of our family. Of course when Chewie heard the roar of Aaron’s car coming down the road, he would get very excited.  

Then my Dad moved in with us. It did not take long for my Dad and Chewie to become best buds. Soon the Hospice team came in to care for my Dad and Chewie would sit by my Dad’s chair while the team would care for him. Once the hospital bed came in, Chewie was very content to lay in a bed that we made for him under my Dad’s bed.  He stayed there until the passing of my Dad.  For days afterwards, he would go to my Dad’s room, stop and look, and then go find a place in the sun.

Chewie was born in New Mexico, came cross country to Pennsylvania and now to our home in New Hope.  Getting use to the snow seemed no chore for Chewie.  As long as I shovel a little trail and circle in the yard he is good to go!  Of course the winter time does find him more determined to go and return as quick as possible.  No lingering out in the snow drifts!

Chewie’s ability to adapt to any situation we placed before him always amazed me.  As my husband went through hospice during his last days, Chewie was the everyday companion watching over him and the nursing team that cared for him.  Like my Dad, for days  after Pat’s passing, Chewie would go back to our bedroom where Pat spent the last few years of his life, and stop and stare, but then go find a place in the sun.

I know when looking at him with his white hairs filling in around his face and his eyes showing the signs of his age, that Chewie’s time here with me is coming to an end.  But until then, he still will dance for me, cuddle with me, and show me every day by his sweet personality how to live with change and a body that is aging.