Alas, the Beast. Eleven years my companion, she changed me utterly and left in a twinkling. When we first met, I thought she was cute, like an unmade bed, a ruffian of a dog, and she certainly was. But over time she was just pretty, really, the loveliest creature I’ve ever known. Graceful, athletic and smarter than I’d guessed, she charmed her way into my cold heart, becoming my constant companion within our first year. Y’see the story is that I was just the Dog-walker, the guy down the hall looking to make a few bucks. But Jay Dee was my ticket in to the life of Sharon, a long-shot I could only imagine, for which I could only hope. But my ulterior motive paid off, and the decade that followed will live as our personal legend. The legend of Beastor.
I didn’t notice her slowing down. Perhaps it was more denial than anything else. Once she passed 12 years, I suppose we began to imagine her living forever. This past Summer, at 14, she lunged after a cat outside of Union Market, snapping her leather leash like it was bacon, pounding after her prey for a moment before remembering her age, then settling back to the task of begging from the humans. Seems like yesterday. By November we had a companion that couldn’t walk to the studio without a ride home. By December, she had to stay home Tuesday nights, and didn’t I get a look for that crime. By Solstice we began to realize our friend was in constant pain and rapidly losing the ability to walk. We made a hard decision and Jay-Dee stepped on a rainbow to go meet Elvis on Dec. 24, (twelve years and one day after she graduated from the Pound to Sharon’s apartment) peacefully and looking every bit the beautiful creature we always knew. Yes, it was heartbreaking. But I wouldn’t trade a moment of my time with her. My thanks to Lisa Walker for choosing Jay Dee as a story source for her project. My apologies to those of you close enough to be harmed by this post. I couldn’t call each of you personally, and you needed to know.