Goodbye, Beamer

On July 24, we said goodbye to our faithful buddy. Was a hard day for all, but especially us "grown ups." Beamer joined Cory at the old house in Denver in April of 2000. For me, I met Beamer when I first came to Denver to visit Cory back in August of 2004. For Cory's family, Beamer was a fixture at family functions for years. We joked after Ella arrived in 2006, "Wow, what'd we do before a baby arrived? Well, we watched the dogs." In fact, Beamer had a special friend in Babe, Grandma Jean's boxer who went up to Doggy Heaven herself a few years back. I think if Beamer had an obituary, it would need the line: "Beamer is survived by his cousin, Penny Lane." After what can only be described as a rocky beginning, Penny and Beamer spent a lot of time hanging out as well.

What can I say? He was a great dog, and he'll be sorely missed. Without a doubt, the time had come to say goodbye. His downhill progression was slow, over the past two years or so, and then simply took a quick turn this summer after we picked him up from boarding after the Yellowstone trip.

Fortunately for us, we got to bring our buddy camping one last time, where he was the recipient of lots of pets and he feasted in table scraps. Bacon. Mmm.

Yesterday, the kids and I took the dog outside and we gave him ice cream. I hope we gave him the send off that he deserved. Time will tell how this affects the kids, but we have a few great children's books and a lot of really great memories.

From our camping trip last weekend, lookin' pretty chill (and skinny)

Last week, after we'd made the decision to do this... and I wanted to take a few photos

When I think of Beamer, I will always remember his sweet disposition. When I first moved to Denver in May 2005, I was job hunting and Beamer and I bonded by taking walks every day while Cory was at work. That was a very special time for me, as anyone can attest to the fact that Coloradoans like their doggies--he made me feel special when I was walking around the neighborhood or different parks. When I finally got a job and was away from home suddenly, he left a few presents on the floor for a while to let us know he was not liking the new arrangement!

When we brought Scout home in 2007, we were so worried at how Beam would adapt. I think that there was a point in time where I carried around a stuffed animal in a sling as preparation (not sure where I heard this would help, and the advice most certainly said to carry a babydoll but we didn't have any dolls at the time). In the end, Beamer adapted so well to Scout (and Ruby after her).  Another word about Coloradoans and their dogs: When we would walk the dog while Scout was still tiny, one of us would often wear Scout in the bjorn or a sling. People would STILL comment on Beamer! "Oh, what a beautiful dog you have!" "What a sweet dog!" Seriously? I am wearing the world's cutest baby on my chest, and you are talking about my dog? Anyway, it's funny to think about it now... Beamer was always a hit.

By the time that we moved to Fort Collins in May 2010, Beamer had aged and was no longer as active as he once was--thus, our kids think that dogs simply lie on the couch and don't make many demands. Synonymous with Beamer was his enormous cone, which he wore quite often to curb the chronic licking tic. Poor ol' Beam with the "Cone of Shame"--many a kiddo that came to play at our house was knocked over by that darn thing. There are so many people that were touched by Beamer, he was that kind of dog. Likely, if you've ever literally touched Beam, you came away with a few hairs as a token of your kind gesture. Cory used to joke that he should have called him "Shedder." Fortunately, I will probably have his white hairs all over this house for years to come to remind me of him. HA.

I went through some old photos and came up with these.

Scout was nearly 2 years old here

 

Jacket-clad, sunglasses and no pants in early 2009

Wish I could figure out how to flip this one, but here's the girl with her dog, her two blankets, cowgirl boots and her thumb

This was probably a sickie day and Beamer was helping her

With Kevin at "our" old park in Denver, back in August 2009

I think this one is cool--Cory had just bought his new camera and was working with shutter speeds, so you can see Beamer just sitting and watching Scout as she walked by (the blur)

At Garden of the Gods in 2005

With Cory on a hike in 2001

Beamer and Babe (Grandma Jean's dog)

Both of these dogs are in doggy heaven now

Found this one in a file labelled "Xmas 2001"

Also from 2001

Not sure when this one was, a file labelled "Beamer"

And, for the sake of all posterity, to honor the dog who wore it like a champ:

AHH! The cone of shame!!!

A sad time for us, but it was our privilege to know this dog. He will be in our hearts forever.