Big Dog, Pig Dog

So, as I mentioned sometime somewhere else at some point awhile ago (I mean, I’ve mentioned all sorts of random shit, so I am sure this came up), Sampson was a birthday present to myself 13 years ago this month. I had just moved to a new town, I didn’t know anyone, and was enrolled in a graduate program in a field I knew nothing about… so I figured at least this way I’d have someone on my side 😀

Getting in the way-way-back machine for a moment (insert be-doodle-be-doodle-be-doodle-be time travel sound effects here)…

As I’ve said before, Sam is half akita in lineage, but about 1450% akita in temperament. Especially the stubborn streak and the DON’T HUG ME nature. The other half is German Shepherd/Doberman cross. (Whenever he was especially cranky or naughty, we’d call him the Axis of Evil, given his WWII-super power lineage of Japanese and German)

Sam was confiscated from a neglect situation along with his parents, a few siblings from the litter right before his (13 puppies total), and his entire litter (12 puppies…yeah, his mom and dad were quite prolific).

Proud papa, Kodiak:

Mom, Sadie Mae:

Sam’s litter had just been put on the floor, and I was their first visitor. Let me tell you, 12 puppies is a whole lotta puppies…

(Forgive the quality of the images, as these are photos-of-photos, since they are from Ye Olden Days before digital cameras)

So…anyway, I picked out my roly-poly bundle of disgruntlement, and brought him home 🙂 And here he is on Day One, shortly after his first bath (because yes, even as a baby, Sam loved a good romp in some poop).

So that was September 2000. Now, fast forward back to today (insert reverse be-doodle-be-doodle-be-doodle-be sound effects), September 2013, and I find myself, for the first time in 13 years, having a birthday with out Sam-boy in it.

It has been a week of odd pairings, I guess. On Wednesday, I got my first birthday card in the mail…and I packed up all the throw rugs all over the floor. Thursday, I opened a present from my grandma…and went to pick up Sam’s ashes. Friday (my actual birthday), I went to the mailbox, and pulled out a handful of cards–half of which were birthday greetings; the other half, condolence cards. In some cases, people had sent one of each.

Like I said…strange days.

So it was sort of a melancholy birthday. There was no one to eat jelly beans and wear the assless chaps and party hats–at least not with quite the same verve that Sam always expressed–but we were also reminded about all of the good times and funny/quirky/frustrating moments we had with him. Everyone’s cards and e-mails and facebook posts let us know that Sampson had made an impression on people–in some cases, people he never met “in person.” And that, in its own way made me feel a bit better.

That’s how it is, though, right? As a wise individual once sang, “You take the good, you take the bad. You take them both, and there you have The Facts of Life”  (good luck getting THAT out of your head, now ;-)).  Happy tears, sad tears; laughing, crying; cursing, congratulating. A little bit of everything.

Like I said…strange days. But pretty normal ones, too.

BUT WAIT… There’s MORE!

Because I don’t want to leave this post on a Debbie Downer note, and to show that yes, we still have cake (and animals who will eat it, too!)…here is a picture of birthday fun and smushes for No Finn: