It’s only been 6 weeks since we lost our Basil and it seems like forever.
I met my Basil at the Reisterstown Festival in Sept 2007. I fell in love with him the moment I met him, but I was going on vacation in October and I didn’t have anyone to watch him. When I returned, I got in touch with his foster to see if there was anyone interested in him. When I found out there wasn’t, I knew he was going to be mine. It was fate. He was a baby and had lots of energy and I couldn’t seem to tire him out. He was wearing me out though. So after a few months I decided he needed a sibling.
Then I received an email from a friend, that a Husky needed a new home. We went to meet the Husky and Basil seemed to like her, so we piled in the car. On the way home Basil started a fight in the back seat. We got home and everything was fine for a little while but my Basil would start fights with her on occasion. He was wondering when she was going home. When he finally realized Kesha wasn’t leaving he decided to love her instead of fighting with her. You could tell him to go give Kesha kisses and he did exactly that. They became best friends and were pretty much inseparable. Basil was a huge part of my life. He was such a special dog. He was with me all the time.
Then when I met Mark, Basil became special to him too. Both Basil and Kesha were in our wedding pictures. Basil loved his toys, especially new toys. Whenever he got a new toy he would play only with that toy for a while, as if he was saying 'thank you, I really like this' . He loved them so much he used them as a pillow to take a little nap. Everyday he met me and the front door with a toy in his mouth. He was a smart little boy. Did you ever see a dog bring his toys back inside from the yard? My Basil did. “Basil go get your toy, bring it inside”. And he would. He would do anything I told him to do. He was such a good and smart boy. He was also a creature of habit and loved to stay on schedule. He would get so upset with me when I strayed from that schedule on the weekends. My Basil definitely understood comfort. He loved to sleep in bed with his head on a pillow just like a human. I don’t think Basil knew he was a dog. Basil loved my Mom and Dad. He knew them as Mommy and Daddy and would get so excited when I told him “Mommy and Daddy was coming to see Basil”. He would run to the window and look for them. Basil had so many people that cared for him. He was such a loving dog. My Basil had many nicknames and would answer to all of them: Little Man, Angel, Baby Boy, Baby Doll, Brown Dog and Boom Boom (since he was scared of anything that went boom). My little boy would get so upset when it thundered and when there were fireworks.
I tortured Basil and Kesha by dressing them up every year for their birthdays, Halloween and for their Christmas pictures. And they both went along with it. Basil actually loved getting his picture taken. He was like my child and I would have done anything for him.
My Basil stopped eating which was very unusual for him. That was one of his favorite things. Within 2 days he was diagnosed with liver cancer. We got a 2nd opinion and unfortunately it was the same. We were able to keep him comfortable with meds for just a little while. Just about a month later when he started having trouble breathing I had to make the hardest decision ever. I promised him when the bad days outnumbered the good days I wouldn’t let him suffer any longer. He was probably suffering longer than we ever realized, but when my Basil stopped eating we knew something major was wrong.
We miss and love you Little Man…… RIP my precious animal! If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever!!!
Mark & Beth Tudor
