This is the story of how
Toss came into our lives.
My wife had a wonderful
Kerry Blue Terrier named
Emma growing up. She got
Emma when she was about 6,
and the dog was truly
her dog. Emma was
still going strong when we
started dating 12 years
later, and I instantly took
a liking to her. I also had
a dog, a lovable mutt named
Scruffy who was about the
same age. Sadly, a couple
of years later while we were
in college, Emma wandered
out of the yard and was hit
by a car and died. My wife
was devastated.
After another year and a
half, she was finally
ready to have a dog
again, and fell in love
with a shy little Kerry
Blue from the same
breeder. He was named
Toss-Up, because the
breeder couldn't decide
between two names. We
just call him Toss for
short (unless he's been
bad!). At the time she
got him, she was
finishing her student
teaching in the Lansing
area while I was in my
first year of med school
at the University of
Michigan. Since Toss
was shy, and we only saw
each other a few times a
month, he and I didn't
bond right away.
Sadly, that fall, my own
dog, Scruffy, had to be
put to sleep. He was
getting so old and
arthritic that he could
barely get down the
stairs to go out
anymore. It was an
extremely tough time for
my family. But there
was Toss! My wife drove
down from Lansing and
brought Toss to comfort
me. And he was so
friendly and lovable and
was just what I needed.
A couple of months
later, my wife moved
close to Ann Arbor, and
I started seeing him
frequently. We were
engaged by that point,
and that summer moved in
together. By Christmas,
Toss was my dog too
(although he'll always
be a mama's boy when
push comes to shove).
He has brought so much
joy into our lives, and
we laugh at his antics.
Regardless of how long
we sleep in, he waits
for the alarm to go off
and then instantly
pounces on us to lick
our faces and tell us to
get up! (If you try to
hide under the pillow,
he will find you!) He
loves squeaky toys and
tennis balls, and chomps
them repeatedly until
the squeaker dies or the
tennis ball cracks in
half. And he won't come
to bed after his
nighttime walk without a
half a slice of American
cheese. He truly helped
us both get over the
deaths of our childhood
dogs, and has made us a
family.
