Now for the good!
1. He was the best pass rusher in history - no quarterback could withstand the onslaught of Louie!
2. He played basketball on his hindlegs and caught the ball with his front legs. He was guilty of numerous over-the-back fouls.
3. He never met a soccer ball he couldn’t pop.
4. He was the official ball shagger for my daughter’s softball team. He loved Sissy’s games!
5. He understood more English words than most people I know.
6. Having been born into a German speaking household, he could always pick out German speaking tourists.
7. He knew that hot air balloon tours were good for a snack of salami half-way through our early morning hikes.
8. He never forgot a friend or a family member.
9. He defended the yard and his own cats from all intruders.
10. He believed in rules to live by and he had a code of honor.
11. He loved playing RPGs with my son and his friends. He’d wear any costume they put on him or play any role they asked of him. He was just one of the guys.
12. He feared nothing but the Santa Anna winds.
13. He was kind to all babies and animals smaller and weaker than himself. He even tried to avoid stepping on baby toads when they covered the hiking trail. He once managed to sneak up on a squirrel and sniff its tail.
14. He was an awful swimmer until he got his lifejacket and then he became the little tugboat that could.
15. He liked nothing more than to go for coffee at Peets, where he could bask in the attention of his many admirers. He got a scone.
16. I have to stop now, but I’ll say this: The sad part of life is death. The sad part of loving an animal (other than a parrot) is that they have a short lifespan. As heartbreaking as Louie’s death is, I wouldn’t have missed a single minute of his life.
I’ll be better next week. I’m off now to a book signing up in Oregon. Kiss your kids and and your significant others and cherish your pets.
