Ode to a drunken sailor boy

This is Lester. Lester and I met almost 3 years ago at the local humane society. I cannot remember now if they posted a pic about him or whether it was on one of my ill-advised visits to petfinder.com that I saw him. It said he was an older dog and part Corgi. I already had a Corgi that I adored and I always feel sad for older dogs stuck in shelters. And when I saw his name was Lester (my dad's name)...well I HAD to go meet him.

When I got there he was so tiny and skinny looking but he had this jaunty kind of gait and a little sparkle in his half-blind eyes. I was on the fence and then they said he was sponsored so that closed the deal right there. I was hooked. So I brought him home.

We had quite the adventures in the years he was with me. He got blinder and deafer and his heart murmur got worse, then better and then worse again. He had horrible teeth that we got fixed. He was not even remotely house trained and that took a year of patience and hard work to accomplish. He was much better toward the end although he was still my tiny bladder boy. He had a bout of geriatric vertigo that never really went away. He always listed to the left. I called him my drunken sailor boy. He went to Colorado with me 2 or three times. He was very brave. He liked the adventure but he did not enjoy the car ride. I adopted a puppy mill damaged poodle named Owen who he took under his wing and welcomed into our happy home. He stayed out of Fiona's way and had a wary truce with Kitten Face.

Last night, or rather early this morning his heart gave out on him. He started having one long continuous seizure and he was in a lot of pain. I rushed him to the emergency clinic in Joplin and had to let him go. He had been seizing for a solid half an hour and the pain needed to be stopped. He was such a sweet boy and had such a sweet spirit.

I will miss him sliding down those last two steps on his face. I will miss yelling at him to stop eating cat poop and licking Owen's personal area. I will miss him constantly laying at my feet. I will miss him sleeping with his tongue hanging out and having to shake him 2 or 3 times to wake him up. I will miss waving my arms at him to come into the house because he could neither see me well or hear me. I will miss trying not to step on him in the dark when I get up to go pee in the middle of the night. As the only dog with a tail in the house it was a challenge. I will miss him barking at me and prancing around in an effort to speed up his breakfast or dinner. I will miss his sweet, drunken, smile and his kind spirit. He was the only dog I ever had who was so passive that he would not even defend his food. He was a kind little boy.

He was the polar opposite of his namesake and I think he came to live with me to help me see that there was a Lester in this world who was kind and loving and who loved me. I miss his presence and his kind heart. God bless you Lester for sharing your last three years on this earth with me. I am honored and a better person for it. Namaste my little drunken sailor boy. I love you and rest in peace. (And try not to pee all over heaven please. :))