Jessie-roo

Jessie aka

Jessie-roo aka

Desert Dog aka

Sausage Dog

 

I got her when I was 21, in college, living alone for the first time, and lonely.  They guessed she was around 3.  She was my buddy.  She had issues but I liked being needed.  She had a past life that I would see hints of every now and then.  She had been picked up as a stray; she was a scavenger.  She once picked up and tried to eat the same dirty discarded sucker off the side of the road, three afternoon walks in a row forcing me to take it home with us and throw it away.  She had a BB shot you could feel through her skin over her ribs on her left side; someone had shot her.  She feared men for about the first 2 years that I had her.  We used to run and hike Cowiche Canyon.  She hated to be alone.  When I worked nights, she used to sleep in my spot all night with Matt, and then when I'd get home she would move to Matt's side of the bed and sleep all day with me.  She knew when I was in labor with Gwen and that day she was physically ill.  My girls were her girls.  She once ate a dozen cupcakes off the counter, leaving not a crumb of evidence.  She loved to ride in the car.  There were times when she would find the car door open and she would get in and refuse to get out until we took her for a ride.  She trained Frankie for us.  She was fun.  She was smart.  She was mine.  And I am grateful.

If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.

-Marjorie Garber