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I am writing this in Beanie’s memory. A more loyal and best buddy there never was. Five years ago I bought Cecil and Beanie, who both went nuclear on me in weight. Last month Beanie came in at 120 and Cecil this a.m. weighed in at 128. Beanie was the best, he was agile, smart and loving. Quirky to the end, he loved to snap at the air and then grin at you, he followed me around and was under my feet 24/7. He slept outside my door every night and considered himself my shadow. He loved any kind of “baby”, rather it was a tennis ball or rope, he would guard it and love it for days on end. He was the king of his six foot fenced 2.5 acres and woe to any bird that landed in our yard, but he loved our three cats and tolerated Clancy the tortoise. One day we had a fire start in the yard while we were far from it, Beanie, in the classic Lassie style, ran over barking at us and actually pulling on my sleeve to get me to round the corner to the fire, while Cecil lounged around, watching the fire as if it was his personal movie show! Beanie loved the snow, loved the surf and loved life with such gusto, I just don’t know what I’ll do now that he is gone. Last year, a mountain lion made his way into our yard and Beanie ripped into him. He almost lost his life twice from that, once from the wounds and then saving him from a secondary infection. Our vet wasn’t sure it was a mountain lion, however this past summer we saw one several times on our road at dusk, slinking around, a huge cat. Well, two weeks ago the cat came back in our yard, a ferocious fight ensued with the cat screaming, we ran outside and it left Beanie and Cecil and ran towards us at full speed. The dogs doubled their speed and attacked it, there was no calling them off of it. One fatal swipe of it’s paws and it tore my Beanie Boy’s neck wide open. Cecil fought with the strength of three, and the cat ran up a huge ponderosa tree and disappeared over the fence. Beanie took his last four steps towards us, gently laid down and died in our arms as the last of his blood pumped into the cold, wet ground. Cecil, his brother and best friend, laid down next to us in the winter weather panting like a steam engine and bloody. After looking Cecil over, his ear was completely shredded and pierced, his nose and face scratched with open and deep wounds, and his right front paw slashed to almost amputation level. Now, it’s been two weeks since our Beanie Boy has left us, such a hole in our life and hearts. Cecil’s paw is on the mend, however he mopes around the house and mourns, it is so very sad. No amount of loving Cecil right now helps him, however we’re sure with time he will forget, though we never will forget our best buddy ever, Beanie Boy.
Tod & Doreen Zimmerman
1/21/2008