For those that don't know, Ken had a plan after we got together (all those eons ago). First, we would get some plants. If we could keep the plants alive, we would get a cat. I have a black thumb and was never able to keep a plant alive for more than a few months. But, I'm a big cat person, so I didn't think it would be horrible to get a cat even though we flunked the plant test.
If we could keep the cat alive, we would get a dog. Well, we started out with just one cat, Milo. Milo ate a penny and somehow after paying for his surgery and hospital stay, we were crazy enough to adopt a second cat, Neci. The two were friends until we got a third cat, Tucker. Tucker thought he was a dog, and was very disappointed in his two housemates.
After we had kept the cats several years and bought a house, we got the dog. The plan was if we could keep the dog alive, we would talk kids.
Ochi joined us in September of 2000. He was a great dog and Tucker (the doglike cat) was very excited to have him around. Until he got bigger, then Tucker was no longer a fan. Ochi made me believe that not all dogs are slobbering, barky, annoying animals. He was always there to snuggle (especially if there were fireworks or a big thunderstorm), provide extra warmth on your feet (even if you didn't really want him to), and adapted very well to not only moving into the city but being a family dog (at age 6).
He doted on Kieran as a baby - did the whole protective dog thing. LOVED it when Kieran started to eat solid food (I don't know how I'm going to keep a floor clean without a dog around), and was doing it all over again with Amelia.
It's sad to know that Amelia will not remember Ochi. That Kieran's memories of him may fade. That we will no longer have his gentle warmth each night.
He could be a pain in the butt, but he was OUR pain in the butt. And we loved him.
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