Our Beloved Boy, A Testament to Hurley

HURLEY.  UNCLE HURLEY.  MY BELOVED HURLEY.  HURL.  HURLS. HURLS BIGURLS. WEE WEE. WEE-MAN. My FIRST BORN, MY BOOGER FACE, MY BUBBY, MY BIG MAN…

I had no idea when we decided to get a dog back in 2008 how life changing it would actually be.  I loved him from the moment I saw him, probably even before that.  I remember before he came home we were lying in bed and all of the sudden Chris blurted out "Hurley" through the dark…and that is instantly who he became.  We couldn't wait to hear the constant pitter-patter of puppy feet on our wood floors and like nerdy first parents, we would imitate the sound.  (I will probably get in trouble for making that public knowledge!) And when we finally picked him up…boy, did he DELIVER on everything we could have expected and then some…

We put him down when we came in the house and he went right to the corner of the dining room, squatted, and moved in a circle while he pooped soft-serve style all over the floor.  The first time he farted…he jumped because he scared himself.  We knew it was MEANT TO BE. 

*He was defiant…as most bulldogs are…and was never afraid to show us who was really in charge by peeing or taking a crap ON OUR BED.  Yup, that's right…ON THE BED. And he earned the nickname "Wee Wee" and "Wee-Man" for his peeing inside. 

*He was hilariously faster and more agile than any bulldog should be.  And he has some serious ups. But at the same time had the most graceful jump up onto our bed and landed ever so softly every time.

*His snaggle tooth and smile…a smile like no other.

*His two little circles of fur on his butt and one on the center of his chest, his polka dotted neck, the one brown spot on his head, his soft ears, the little white tip on his left ear, his half black/half white nail…just BEAUTIFUL.

*His boogery, runny nose…for which I nicknamed him "Boogy Face."

*His drool "shoestrings" – which always grow when he saw you eating something he wanted you to share…towards the end the prednisone made him so ravenous he would drool at things he hadn’t in the past – buffalo wings w/ranch dressing?! I left a small container of ranch dressing on the coffee table awhile back and as soon as I turned my back he knocked it onto the floor and licked it clean.

*HIS SMELL, OHHHH HIS SMELL…if I could bottle it I would…and if that makes me weird, well, I’m OK with it!  The hubby and I have come home countless times and walked upstairs to the smell of him while he's sleeping and we'll say "Wow, buddy, you must have been sleeping HARD for all that smell." Most people walk upstairs and say, ‘it smells like a dog…’ to which my reply is…’Yup, AND?!’ AHHHH, and the glorious, Frito-like smell of his paws.

*His love of our closet, his duty to protect the stairs from all who wanted to pass, his need to always climb up and dig a "nest" in the throw pillows of a freshly made bed, how he liked to “hide” underneath things so his downstairs bed has always been under our coffee table.

*His tendency to run in the opposite direction when I called him in from outside.

*If he wanted something…he would look at you with his big brown eyes and SNEEZE right in your face; or he would get SOOOOOO close to the food sitting on the coffee table and just start licking the air to try and taste it.

*His snoring at night that I could hear from down the hall if he was in Grace’s room, or how the bed vibrated if he was sleeping with us.

*How much he used to enjoy sprinting in circles in between our bedroom, the hall, and Bentley's room because it is carpeted so he could get going with some great traction on the rug and sprint in circles until he was too tired. From downstairs, it sounded like a thunderstorm…then he would stop and we could hear him panting like crazy at the top of the stairs.

*He LOVED sunning himself and I had to drag him in so that he didn’t overheat.

*He liked the water…the river at our house and the lake at his friend Jax’s house…I will never forgot the day we were in the lake at Tor & Jay’s when he jumped off the dock and sank like a rock…I ran in after him and then saw his little white head approaching the surface…a bulldog that COULD swim!

*OH YA…he has his own friends.  My friends and I would actually coordinate play dates with the dogs…like his bestie is his Boxer buddy, Jax.  He had an “arranged” friendship with Moooda.  At holiday parties, my girlfriends and I would line up all of the dogs in front of the Christmas tree for photos.  And now…he has SO MANY friends on Facebook, it’s WILD…from all over the world! (More on that later…)

*He liked to get right in your face and sniff your eyeball.  Who knows – maybe it’s how he feels you out, like when he sniffs another dogs’ butt?!  This one even I can’t explain.  But it made him HURLEY.

*He liked to steal the kids’ stuffed animals and got into the habit of brining one down every time we had company – like a welcome gift. Most of those animals became his…as he chewed out the eyeballs and tore off the nose. Then he would lick them like he was sorry he de-faced them.  And I am so grateful now to have those with me.

*When I took a shower he would either sit outside the shower door like a creep and watch me, or he would lay on my towel on the floor like he was trying to warm it up for me.

*When I combed my hair or turned on the blow-dryer…he would come prancing in and plop himself at my feet – and if I didn’t comb him right away or turn the warm air on him, he would sneeze at me until I did.

*You were an odd guy…sneezing and barking at a lighter; curling up your lip if you got close enough to sniff the nail file I was using or nail polish remover on my fingers.

*He has always thought he was a lap dog but it became particularly ‘worse’ over the last year and all of our trips to Tufts. He would no longer stay in the back of my car…he would jump over the seat and sit in the tiny space between the kids’ car seats – sometimes even IN a carseat if there wasn’t a child occupying it, and he was too big to figure out how to turn himself around without stepping all over Bentley or Grace; then he would make his way to the front with me, climb over my lap and always had to be on my left when I was driving…between the door and me, and he would rest his head on the steering wheel. (Disclaimer: I realize this is probably unsafe, but trying to wrangle a 60 lb dog off your lap while driving I determined to be WAY more dangerous.) In the event that he stayed on the passenger’s side, he liked to rest his head on the door’s arm rest.

*He had never been one to chase cars, bikes…but when Bentley got his first mini-ATV he would chase it around and bark at the front tires like an attack dog.

*When we put the sandbox in…he decided he enjoyed rolling around in the sand until every wrinkle and crevice on his body was covered.

He ran this house like he paid the mortgage.  He knew the sound of Chris’ work truck and could somehow distinguish that reverse beep from the beeping of the neighbor’s box truck.  He would come running down every day when I yelled “Daddy’s HOME!”  When I got pregnant with Bentley he started sleeping across my head at night, or curled up against my stomach.  He knew.  He was never a barker - but during my first pregnancy he became much more aware of our surroundings and would bark at an odd noise or an unusual car passing the house as if to give me a heads up that something was different.  He became a watch dog.  I credit him for sending me into labor with B because he took off down to the river for a swim, got stuck, and when Chris finally found him I had to rush him to the vet for staples in the back of his leg…contractions started not long after.  That night I went in to labor he waited patiently in the chair in the nursery…I found him perched up there in the morning. (A nursery which he made sure to mark his territory in for OH, 9 WHOLE MONTHS).  With Grace, YUP he slept on my head again and then about 3 weeks before I went into labor he sat at my feet and shook like a leaf…as if to tell me he knew she was coming soon. (I strongly believe he developed his anxiety as a result of my anxious tendencies.) He went to sleep most nights in the chair in Bentley's room until we put him into a bed and moved the chair to Grace's room…and then he would start his nights in there…He may have had the most expensive “dog bed” of any other dog in the world.  It warmed my heart when I would hear Grace talking to him in the morning.  My kids are dog lovers because of him and although he was usually a bull in a china shop…he was really gentle with the kids, taking his treats (or a waffle) and giving them kisses.  "Dog" was one of their first words.  And this guy was SO in tune with me…stressed, anxious, upset…he would climb up on me and curl up by my head or try to dig under the covers and lay with me. 

He was and always will be my LOVE…my BELOVED…my SOUL’S FUR-MATE as I like to say. I never thought he could impact my life in the way he did…he taught me how to be a Mom, how to love unconditionally.  He was the ESSENCE OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.  He had an unwavering devotion to us.  He was my silent, devoted, loyal companion who never passed judgment on me and got me through the absolute darkest days of my life.  And also the BEST – the birth of Bentley & Grace – and if we had him at the time of our wedding, he most definitely would have been in the bridal party!  If I were to lay on him and cry though…I have to say he DID look at me weird…but that’s probably because he was a typical man.  He let me lay on him and smother him until…you bulldog folks know what's coming next…until the awkward moment where you can't contain the struggle any longer and he wiggled free.

I can thankfully say that even after the kids were born, and before his cancer diagnosis, I never took my boy for granted. He was family…he traveled with us, spent holidays with us. I told him every day, a hundred times a day how much I loved him.  I soaked him up, never missed an opportunity to pet him or snuggle him.  When he would lay across my legs at night I would rather be uncomfortable than to move him…it was more important that every second of HIS life was as comfortable as possible.  He deserved it for everything he has given and taught us.  All rules were tossed aside after he became ill and we had many a nights where he slept with us in bed. Even at the end nights where I slept with him on the floor because I knew he needed me. I loved him to the fullest every day of his beautiful life; I will love him for eternity.

One night recently, I found him sprawled out asleep on my side of the bed…with his head on my pillow…and he was nice enough to leave me just enough room to squeeze in, rest my face on his head, and listen to him breathe.  (and sniff him, of course) Another recent night I went upstairs to bed and as he usually is, expected him to be sleeping on the chair in Grace’s room.  I always sneak in to say goodnight...pet him, talk to him, tell him I love him.  But there he was, curled up in a ball on our pillows.  I sat next to him and my heart was overwhelmed with love and gratitude as I rested my face next to his and pet his chemo-thinned fur. 

He truly is my beloved boy and I am eternally grateful to him from the depths of my soul for the unconditional love he has given to me. Words just cannot do justice to how special my big man will ALWAYS be.

I love you my boy…and TRUE LOVE NEVER DIES.

~E