Goodbye Friend...A Story About Stu

When I was studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain, in the fall of 1999, my parents came to visit and observe all of the studying I was doing.  One night during their visit, we stumbled upon a Tex Mex bar that I had totally never been to before, and we got my dad drunk for the first time in years.  During that completely coherent conversation, we raised the topic of getting a new dog because our current yellow lab, Herkimer (aka Herkie), was getting old and probably wouldn't be around for too much longer.  Once the argument between the dog lover and the dog caretaker settled, we started talking about a name.  Since it had always been a running joke in our family that a baby named "Askim" would be funny (say it out loud to yourself), the dog lover who never drinks (or curses) blurted out, "I'm going be so sick and tired of people asking me what his name is, I'm going to say his name is Shut The Fuck Up And Stop Asking Me."  Me, the lover of random acronyms, figured that the shortened name for this unfortunately titled pup would be STFUASAM, which obviously wouldn't work, so we quickly shortened it to STUFAM.  After the drunken haze settled, we then realized that name wouldn't even work, so we shortened it to Stu.  Fast forward a year to me pulling up to my parent's driveway in Phoenix with a 3 month old yellow lab puppy, the dog lover is crying out of excitement and the dog caretaker has a scowl on her face that would burn a hole in the sun.  Fast forward again 9 years to today, and we are saying goodbye to the best friend a family could ever have.  Stu was pure love and affection, and added a joy to that household that could never be described.  Stu was a friend to the umpteenth degree, even to those who never wanted him around (who also raised him better than anyone could have, Thanks Ma).  Sadly, Stu is being put down this morning because a battle with cancer is making his body too difficult for his soul to maintain.  He'll be in a happier place later today, and we will be left here to reminisce on all the good times we had with him.  The pulling and yelping while on walks to Squaw Peak mountain.  The morning run to grab the paper.  The endless moments of unwarranted licks.  And the never ending love that we shared with him.  Thank you Stu for being the best member of our family that we could have ever wished to have.  Safe travels, and we love you.