I am ashamed of myself for never posting on this board about my Zipper, when all of my other babies have been featured here.
My husband, Scott, and I, were married on December 21, 2002. He married me, knowing my love for dogs, all dogs, especially Golden Retrievers. He got two beautiful Golden girls, Honey and Lilly, when he got me! Those precious girls are nearing their 8th birthdays.
Scott also knew my love for rescue, especially Golden Retriever rescue, as I was fostering a lot when we met. Once we were married, we not only had 3 "skin" kids in our combined family, we had 3 dogs, too, Honey, Lilly and Murphy. I figured our fostering days were probably over for a while, but every now and then, I would see a plea from the Golden Retriever Rescue and Scott always said that if it meant life or death for one of those precious dogs, we could figure out a way to foster and make it work. In August, 2003, while Scott was out of town, I had to make one of those quick decisions. Our rescue group was desperate for foster homes, so I agreed that a stray, older Golden, who had been named "Zipper", could come stay with us until he found a home. Scott learned of this when I picked him up from the airport, the day before Zipper came to stay with us. He never said a word about that decision, except to tell me that we COULD NOT KEEP THAT DOG!
Well, a week after that precious boy arrived at our house, I told the rescue group that they needed to hurry up and put him up for adoption because I was falling in love. After almost two weeks, I started begging to keep him, and Scott brought me back to reality regarding the age of our pets, the number of pets we had, the astronomical vet bills we were incurring, etc. I agreed and told him I wouldn't ask again. But, the very next morning, Scott and I were outside, very early, cleaning up the yard, and our son, Andrew, was the only child at home with us. Andrew came out and sat in the swing on our deck and next thing we knew, Zipper was hovering over Andrew's lap and they were swinging, together. I tapped Scott on the shoulder and said, "look". About two seconds later, Scott asked me if I thought the rescue would let us adopt him, and Zipper could be Andrew's dog. I think they were already prepared for me to be a foster failure, and that day, Zipper became our newest dog. At probably 9 or 10 years old, it would have been difficult to place him. He was a most special boy. He was readily accepted in our home by all of our dogs and cats and other than giving us the constant paw and hug, he was never a problem.
We had 2 1/2 lovely years with that special boy. Andrew loved him as did our girls. But, in my heart, I know that Zipper was a Mama's boy, since I was the one who cared for him and spent the most time with him. I'm not sure that I ever will experience that kind of bond again in my lifetime. Don't get me wrong, I love my Golden girls more than anything and I love my puppy, Mack. But Zipper was special. Maybe it is because I always said that my "next" dog, after Honey and Lilly, would be one that needed me more than I needed him/her.
Sadly, last spring, our boy got sick. Our vet tried everything possible to "fix" him, but he lost a lot of weight in a short period of time and finally, during exploratory surgery, our vet found cancer that could not be cured. I had to make the horrible decision to let him go on May 17, 2006. I was with him as he took his last breath on that operating table. There is still a huge void in my life without him that cannot be filled.
Two days later, my husband, who had been out of town when Zipper passed away, surprised me a puppy. Mack's story is for another day, though.
Logan
Here is my precious Zipper on the first night in our home. He will always be known as a "card shark" as he was very intent on playing cards with Scott and Elizabeth that first night!!
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