Lone Star Bulldog Club Rescue folks –
Sadly, Buster, our 9-year old farting, snoring, humping lovable beast of a bulldog passed away recently. Buster had more personality in the tip of his ever-present tongue than I have in my whole body, and he gave us more more happy and hilarious moments than I can share (how many bulldogs move from Texas to DC and miraculously learn to love sledding?). Perhaps the best way to honor him, is to explain (extremely inadequately) what he meant to us.
When we adopted him through Lone Star Bulldog Club Rescue, my wife and I had been married for less than a year. We were married, but we were still learning how to be a family. Enter Buster. My wife had never owned a dog before, let alone a bully requiring face (and other fold) cleaning, ridiculously slow, stubborn waddles around the block, snoring on par with my own, and truly lethal silent but deadly farts. I found it all rather endearing, but (at the time) was alone in that sentiment. We learned to share smiles of frustration and laughter – we had bonded from a couple into a family, albeit one with a big, hairy baby. So, when we found out my wife was pregnant, we were both excited for a smaller, less hairy baby to meet her brother Buster. It was not meant to be. When my wife was 9 months pregnant with our daughter, Buster (despite having the blood work of a four-year old at his last senior check-up) suddenly passed away in front of us. As he passed, I asked him to look out for the sister that he would never meet in person. When our daughter was born shortly afterwards, the doctor took a picture of her fresh from the oven. She was sticking out her tongue just like Buster always did.
We will miss the incredibly joyful sound of Buster barreling into the kitchen at the sound of the rice cooker (he loved rice balls), thud-thudding up the stairs from his favorite cool spot in the basement to greet us after work with a big doggie smile on his face, the smell of Buster on my shoes and taking naps together. We will miss him because our family is not whole anymore, even though we know he is still looking out for us.
-Hunter, Krissy and Dashiell
P.S. – I’ve attached three photos. The first is Buster in his classic position (sleeping on one of my shoes with his tongue out), the second is the two of us sledding, and the third is of our daughter saying hi to the world Buster-style.
