I still remember the phone call. Liz told me she was at Wal-Mart and there were these dogs in the back of some redneck’s truck. They couldn’t go to the fair until they got rid of all the puppies and if they had too, they’d just go to the animal shelter and drop them off.
The puppies hadn’t had water in over three hours and the sun was beating them down.
Liz and I weren’t married yet. We had built a house and Liz moved in in August. We brought Brody and Hooper home from Wal-Mart that day into our new house. We named them after characters we loved in JAWS, the movie.
Things were bad the first night. Both were riddled with worms and we didn’t think they’d make it. Liz was adamant that we give them one good night at least. She called me early the next morning to come over quickly--wasn't looking good at all. It was the weekend, and we had no choice but to take them to the emergency vet. $700 and three days later, they were fine, and came home to live with us. Back then, they could fit under the seat of our car. We transported them to the vet in a small cardboard box. In their prime, they were almost 150 pounds together, taking up the entire backseat of the car.
Over the years, they ate through the wall of the kitchen, which caused me to become an expert at drywall repair. They ate part of the deck. They even ate an entire loaf of cinnamon bread that we left too close to the edge of the counter.
They were born July 20th, 2000. Mid-winter 2004, perhaps January, we moved them to our in-laws house as we were planning to move up in the summer and didn’t want to subject them to all the packing up. They were sensitive dogs who knew what was going on at all times. Labs in any form are famous for their intelligence.
They swiftly became “Brumpton” dogs. Liz’s dad, Doug, is like Snow White--friend of all animals. We jokingly call him Dr. Doolittle. Brody and Hooper swiftly gained about 15 pounds each. Their love of cheese and ground beef did not go unnoticed in the Brumpton house.
Over the years, we became accustomed to Brody’s frequent medical needs and Hooper’s desire to remain by her sister. Brody was the runt and wasn’t expected to live in the first place. Hooper always maintained a protective space around Brody even though Brody was the instigator of many of the turmoils the girls found themselves in.
Brody passed away in 2011. Hooper seemed lost initially, but bounced back with fervor after a couple of months with her shepherd, Doug.
And now, we come to the end. Sisters reunited. Jumping through the fields of heaven with renewed energy and bodies. Celebrating what that one good night brought.
We love you Brody and Hooper! We know that Heaven is welcoming you with open arms and charmed by your ever loving spirit. You are good girls and we will never forget your wonderful black and furry faces or the cuddles at night or the thunderstorms when you were scared or the walks (we tried!) around the block or the pure joy in your faces when we came home from work. You were loved as much as much as our own children. You were our girls.
Goodnight, Scooby.
We love you.
