Mr. Wonderful

Max is short, fat and blonde. He has long eyelashes, hates to have his nails clipped and gets car sick. He also hates baths and hates it even more when people fight. He is fiercely loyal and not a great snuggler in bed.

Max is a dog.

And yet, he has more personality than most humans I know. He passed away this morning at 7:05am. He will certainly be missed.

I remember the day my roommate Sarah and I picked Max up. On a whim we decided that what our two-room, 3rd floor apartment needed was a dog. We thought it through long enough to throw on our hippie clothes and speed out to the pound. We originally picked out a black, curly-haired poodle puppy that was too cute for words. She was also too tiny to go home. We came back the next day (week?) and someone else had already adopted her.

We then set our sights on a teeny, tiny, kitten-sized yellow pup we named Golden. He howled the entire way home as we listened to the Grateful Dead with the windows down. I like to think he was singing along.

We got Golden home and let him enjoy our apartment by peeing in the corners while we pretended not to see. Because if you don't see it, then you don't have to clean it up. Ah, college. We took him with us wherever we went, minus class time. Although I think I remember tying him up outside so during class. Or maybe that was while we got coffee. Fuzzy details....

We renamed him Max after enduring some teasing from our friends, and after we realized what a stupid name that truly was. (It was after Golden Colorado, by the way - right Sarah?). Sarah came up with Max and it fit him very well. (After Where the Wild Things Are - right Sarah?).

Maxie enjoyed a pretty sweet life, although he definitely had to endure a lot of things that goes along with living with college students. Near the end of our junior year, we overheard the apartment maintenance guy talking about checking for pet hair with a black light. Yikes! So we shipped Max off to live with Brent a.k.a Haus a.k.a my Boyfriend who had graduated and was living in Kansas City.

He enjoyed a great life in Kansas City until the day that Brent and I broke up. I felt like a divorced parent, but did not permit Brent any visitation rights. Sorry about that. Sarah and I moved into a huge house on Hamilton Street and took on roommates to fill it up. Poor Max. He barked everytime someone went in and out of the house, which was almost constantly. Thank goodness for Patty.

But, it just wasn't working.

My parents ended up taking Max to live with them at the farm. What was to be a temporary solution ended up permanent. My parents, especially my dad, found Max to be the son or daughter they never had. He was their little buddy. And then when they split up, he was my dad's best friend and faithful companion.

My dad remarried in March of 2008 and Max's loyalties shifted. He fell in love with the girls of the house and would wait by the door or on top of the couch by the window until they came home. He still loved my dad, but apparently starting his life with two girls had ingrained him with a love of the ladies.

It's going to be strange to go to my dad's and not hear the annoying bark of Max. It's going to be sad for everyone who loved him. But he was a very sick little pup, and I know that God has a place for him on top of a couch, looking out of a window somewhere.

Max a.k.a Mr. Wonderful a.k.a Max The Wonder Mutt a.k.a Max the Magnificient
July 2001 - April 2, 2010