Jay

I've been anxious to write for the past couple of days but haven't yet simply because I really had nothing pertinent to write about... I've just missed writing. I'm looking forward to December coming soon so I can start on Reverb 11 and get back in the habit of writing daily. But tonight's late-night inspiration to post probably won't be my greatest work. (it is 1:20 am as I start this...) In fact, you might laugh at me or you might just not care much at all. And that's okay with me.

See, last weekend we lost a very special member of our family.

We knew it was coming, we've known for years, but on the car ride home from the mountains my mom broke the news to me that our sweet 13 year old dachshund, Aj, had finally gone. Like most hard situations in life, I didn't really know how to process. I know my grip on Daniel's hand tightened as I heard the words and I tried really hard avoid my usual inappropriate reaction to sad news-- the laugh/cry combination. I cried, don't get me wrong, but it was one of those cries where you hold it back and you end up with a headache at the tears welled somewhere behind your eyes. He's just a dog, right? Not really... He was a huge part of our family.

Coming home was different. Quieter. And our other dog, Claire, has gone into a sad state of depression. She's never lived without him. But here, almost a week later, I'm just now really processing. Laura and I watched Marley and Me tonight (seems like a terrible idea, yeah?) and as I cried with the characters in the movie, I couldn't help but think about some of the sweet stories of Aj that made me laugh over the past 13 years. The main character is a writer who keeps a column of stories about the family dog. The rest of this blog is dedicated to telling a few of those stories and chronicling the grumpy, chubby puppy that he always will be.

One of my favorite pictures of Aj last Christmas. I love that old gray chin.

I don't remember much about the day we got Aj. Despite his frequently grumpy exterior, he's our Valentine's Day pup. What I do remember from going to get him, though, is that he wasn't the one I wanted. But he was Robert's dog, not mine, and it's absolutely fair to say that Aj picked out Robert, not the other way around. That puppy crawled up in his lap and looked at him with this "I'm coming with you, okay?" face that really left him no option.

We would play together a whole lot when he was a puppy. I remember getting in trouble for dropping a hula hoop on him once. He loved tennis balls more than almost anything (though he never mastered bringing them back) and I used to tie his leash to the skateboard and have him pull me across the garage. We'd race home from the bus stop and he could run faster than me. (which is sad, I know.) He loved popcorn and I taught him to catch it in his mouth, convinced we'd join some sort of circus one day and show off our tricks. He knew the word popcorn almost as well as he knew the word cheese and we used to laugh at the way his floppy ears got wet when he drank water.

In third grade I did a writing project about Aj and each week I would write and illustrate the next book in the series. The only ones I can remember off hand were Aj Goes to School and my personal favorite, Aj Get's Glasses. They were quite the hit in Mrs. Jones' third grade class. My mom still has every last one of those books.

Aj almost always had birthday parties complete with hats and unfrosted cupcakes. One time the neighbors came.

I don't remember a whole lot about him being little but we moved across the state in between third and fourth grade. I do remember that in the process of moving, we packed up Robert's red bunk beds and found petrified dog poop underneath. Surprise? When we got to the new house it seemed so big and so empty. I was nervous and unsure of things but I remember Mom putting Aj on the floor and him taking off running laps around the house with more excitement than I'd ever seen.

When I was little, if I'd whine he would whine right along with me. And nobody ever tickled me without getting bit if I called for his help in the fight. Sorry, Dad... 

For thirteen years, literally every single time Robert or I would go up the stairs he would take off running and barking at full speed. We made him chase us as kids and he never grew out of it.

He barked at everything and at nothing. Mailmen, butterflies, wind... nothing was too swift to get by our guard dog.

The first time Aj met Daniel was one I don't think any of us will ever forget. Last Christmas we were all sitting in the living room late at night. Aj, who until then had payed him no attention, got out of his bed, walked across the room, and looked Daniel square in the eye. He turned around, walked halfway back to his bed, paused, and passed gas louder than I've ever heard any small dog before or since then. Always a warm welcome in the Register household.

Aj's legal registered name was Aj Red Rocket Register. Yep.

One Christmas he got a sweater from Santa... unfortunately he was way too chubby for it and it made his little legs poke out to the side so far that he couldn't stand and had to resort to laying on the ground flopping around like a seal until someone took pity on him and took the thing off. We always said he looked like a football with legs but at least he made a good garbage disposal.

Aj's favorite past time was to grab the end of the roll of toilet paper and take off running across the entire house. The reason we keep the bathroom doors closed is very similar to the reason we keep the pantry door closed... Aj proved himself at an early age to be half puppy and half goat.

I loved that puppy a whole lot. He'd wait for me every single day at the bus stop in middle school and snuggle up with us on the couch every night. He wasn't always the friendliest, his barking drove me crazy, and he certainly got overshadowed by his assertive little sister, but he was great. He cried me through some tough times, stuck with me when our favorite boy went off to college, and got old just at the same time as Buster did in Toy Story. He was a mess, but he was a huge part of our family and everyone was sad to see him go.

So this one's for you, Aj Red Rocket.

Good night, friends.