Grandpa, Mom’s Dad, has gone on ahead of us and has been greeted by Lemmy at the end of the trail.  His long battle with Alzheimer’s is over.  I take great comfort though knowing that he and Lemmy are together again.  They were the best of friends from the moment they met.  Ok, I know that doesn’t sound like much since Golden Retrievers make friends with everyone, but their relationship was truly special.  I’m not sure who would get more excited when they saw each other, Lemmy or Grandpa.  And oh how they played!  The four paws on the floor rule certainly did not apply when Grandpa was visiting.  This often led to both Lemmy and Grandpa getting a time out by Mom!

As a puppy, I didn’t understand what Alzheimer’s meant.  All I knew was that Grandpa could never remember my name, and always called me Lemmy.  Even if I was standing right next to Lemmy!  I would get mad and stomp my paws or grunt because I didn’t understand why he didn’t notice I was more handsome, intelligent, athletic…ok, you get the picture.  But then one day Grandpa had a stroke, and while visiting him in the rehab hospital a nurse asked him who we were.  Without hesitation he put on the biggest smile and enthusiastically responded, “They’re my grandsons!”  It was then I realized no matter what Grandpa called me, he loved me.  After that I responded to Lemmy’s name with pride.

By the time Asa joined our family, Grandpa could no longer roll around and wrestle on the floor with us.  But that didn’t matter to Asa.  He liked to snuggle up to him placing his head on Grandpa’s lap so he could be petted.  Grandpa loved hearing the stories of our antics, and every day Mom would tell him about our latest adventures.  He would light right up and laugh at Asa’s silliness, and comment about how smart I am.  In fact, Grandpa would happily tell everyone he met about us, and took great amusement in not revealing until the end of the story that his grandsons were dogs.

It’s hard to imagine our lives now without him.  But I am so grateful for the time that we did share.  Have fun playing with Lemmy again, we’ll see you at the end of the trail Grandpa.  We love you!