When I met my wife in 2015 I didn’t meet her dog until we had our first kiss. I think in some way he had to meet me first before I could go for that kiss.
She adopted Chester in 2011 so their history is deeper than anything I could ever write about. But I want to tell you how a 25 pound mutt became my best buddy.
I didn’t have pets growing up and in my adult life my excuse of “I don’t go home sometimes” was to prevent me from taking any responsibility. So when I met Chester I was ready for a dog that plays and begs and does tricks and loves to be a dog. He was none of that. He didn’t fetch, he didn’t do tricks except the occasional sit or shake; usually for a treat. He didn’t run around at dog parks or play with other dogs. He would sniff around and pee everywhere and then stand next to me probably wondering why we were hanging out with all these dogs. He was best described as furniture which is a huge compliment as a dog I think. Someone once said he didn’t have a personality and I took it as an insult.
Chester had all the personality of a unique human. He would look at things quizzically trying to understand them. When the doorbell rang he loved running to greet whoever was there. He LOVED popcorn and could hear the bag opening from the other side of the house even if he was in a deep sleep. He loved sitting in my lap even though he was too big to technically be a lap dog. He would wake up in the mornings and come over to sniff me. Hopefully checking that I was still alive, it definitely wasn’t to get me out of bed because Chester loved sleeping. He would stay next to whoever stayed in bed last. He figured if someone was still in bed then it was still sleep time. In 2021 we bought our house for us but another big reason was for him. My wife wanted him to have a yard and be able to lie in the grass in the sun anytime he wanted to. And he did, he would walk out to the front yard and lie in the sun and not have a care in the world. I think that’s why I admired him, a dog’s life is blessed. My favorite moment in our life together was when his big brown eyes would stare at me while I made lunch and he knew I would give him something every singe time. Then I’d make a motion with my hands of “no more” and he understood and went back to his bed. Or couch or chair or whatever spot he was lying in. Back to doing what he knew how to do better than any other dog in the world.
I miss him.