Our Adventures: My Old Man: Bobo!

Warning: My family treats animals like family members.

(Bobo when he was 11, taking a nap...VIP in my bed.)

When I was a sophomore at Baylor I was having one of those days. I was driving by the Waco Humane Society and it hit me! I want a dog! I wanted a dog so bad. I walked in there and I was completely taken back by all of the dogs without homes. How sad. Why couldn't I take them all home? As I walked along the terrible path, I passed by the hyper big dog that would have jumped and knocked me over, the puppies that I knew would destroy my carpet in my apartment, the little small lap dogs that would give me a headache with every bark, and then there he was: Bobo! He was shaking scared. I knew he wasn't in his normal surroundings because he had a very nice collar on. It was the fancy kind that went around his front legs. I thought this dog is pampered. Then I looked at his name tag. "BOBO." I couldn't believe it.

Bobo is the name of my very first dog growing up. He even saved my life by pulling me by my diaper into the ditch when a car was coming. He ran away the week before my 13th birthday and all I wanted was him back for my birthday to be complete.

(Bobo was never scary....he was old and did sleep and yawn a lot though!)

Anyway, so there was a new Bobo. How meant to be! I told the women up front that I would be taking HIM home! I was very excited! They told me he was 11 years old and his owner had just passed away. I said that I didn't care. I wanted to pamper him until his time was up.

(My little cousin, Tyler and Bo taking a nap.)

So there we were on our way to Petco. Anything Bobo smelled was his. Talk about toys galore! As we were checking out the girls behind me said "Is that the Bobo at the pound?" I said "Yes." They explained that they were there yesterday and he was shaking so much they almost got him. I looked down at his happy little self and I was thankful!

Bobo lived with me up until I moved into a home with someone that didn't like animals. I was really devastated at first, but I had to respect her. She didn't tell me that before I moved in, but I knew Bobo would keep my dad a lot of company because he lived by himself. It was again meant to be, Bobo and Dad were instant best friends!

(Daddy and Bo about 2 years ago.)

.........

So here we are 5 years later. Bobo passed away last Thursday night. He was 16 years old and it was his time to go. He had a brain tumor and it was a very difficult family decision but they put him to sleep. For the past 2 years he has been living in Michigan with Grandma as a babysitter when Dad went to work. Before every nap or at bedtime, Grandma would always put a pillow under his head. How precious is that?

Don't forget that my loved doggie was put to sleep and I had to act cheerful and almost fake around 80ish people for the wedding that very weekend! When rehearsal time came, it hit me that I not only rescued him from the awful "cell" at the pound, but he was loved so much by Dad, Grandma and I his last years. I think back to all of the times with him. His red snow boots because he was a Texas dog, his feet were not made for the cold snow. His nightly belly rub...we would watch tv together and I would lay on my back and he would lay on his back on my stomach. He loved it. My last sweet sweet thing is everytime my dad would leave him alone at the house, he would ALWAYS put on Animal Planet! My dad told me that and I thought that was so precious.

Now that it has passed, I can honestly say I am thankful Bobo was in my life! As upset as I was, the fact that he lived as long as he did...is truly amazing. He wasn't just a dog, he was my old man.