In Memory of Fergus
176My dog, Fergus, died on August 2nd as a result of spleen cancer. I only talked about him a little bit on the channel, but most of my recording sessions started with him curled up beneath my desk until he got tired of my yelling at the computer. Sometimes, he made his presence known in my videos, most notably in this episode of Myth (thanks for reminding me of this, Lethal) https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=885&v=iX4ws19OUl4
We got Fergus five years ago from the Oregon Humane Society. I was working nights and both Katie and I thought that the house felt awfully empty with it usually just having one of us in it. We'd been keeping an eye on the Humane Society's website for a few months before we saw this weird dog that was under our rental company's weight limit (which he exceeded quickly after we adopted him).
They told us that he was a second chance dog from Merced County, California; he would've been put down if there hadn't been room up here in Portland. As far as anyone knew, Fergus was a street dog. He came to the shelter with worms, fleas, sunburns, moles on his eyelids, and a funny walk that always made me think he was trying to strafe in a video game. His gait came from fused vertebrae in his neck that caused nerve issues on the right side of his body.
He chose us. We threw a ball with him, we played and watched him stumble around. I wasn't sure. My wife and I sat down to think about it, and he immediately came and sat underneath our seats. It was settled.
Though Katie and I are still immensely sad to have lost him, we take solace in knowing that we gave him a much better life than he had, and indeed, much better than many dogs get. We always loved him, and he always loved us in his own way. I can't tell you how comforting it was to come home from a night shift and take him to the park to watch him romp around in the fog chasing squirrels. He never snapped or snarled, and only ever wanted to be warm, fed, and loved.
I miss him so damn much. Some people talk about losing a pet in blithe terms; "it's just a dog" and the like. I wish those sorts of folks could've spent five minutes with Fergus. There have been none sweeter.
Fergus was my wife's favorite photography subject, so we're lucky to have dozens of great
He was my companion, my shadow, my unconditional warm welcome and my heartbreaking goodbye.
Music: "I've Loved You All Over The World" by Willie Nelson