RIP RWT

Rerun Walter Thompson
We got rerun April 1, 2000. My sister-in-law, Meghan had rescued him off the LA freeway in a rainstorm. He had been hit and was trying to cross the freeway and get off. Meghan took him home. He laid in her bed for three days. On the third day, he stood up and wet her bed. Once he convalesced, he was so attached to her that he would bark his head off when she left. Death threats from her neighbors on her answering machine coincided with a visit from my wife, so Kiki brought him home to us. It was wrestlemania that day. I gave him a piece of chicken and then went in for a kiss. He bit me right on the mouth and I went to the emergency room and got the first set (of three total sets) of stitches. All caused by bites from Rerun; all on my face.
He was a banged-up lad, and suspicious. He had been abused, clearly, from the scars and broken, protruding ribs that clearly predated his encounter with a car.
He warmed up to all of us after a while. He was devilishly smart and very affectionate to Kiki and I.
In the last few years, the extreme wear on his tiny body from homelessness and his previous life manifested itself profoundly. He stopped attempting stairs and standing on his hind legs. He needed a few minutes go get moving in the morning and could be very cranky if you disturbed him once he found a spot to lay down. We knew the twilight had set in. He cried often when trying to get comfortable, despite a wonderful supplement called Dog Gone Pain and a half an aspirin a day. His vision and hearing were starting to fail, and if he fell down (which was often) on one side, he couldn't get up without help.
July 4th weekend was fantastic for us. 5 Days on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan right on the beach.
Rerun stayed with my parents. He hates loud noises and thunderstorms...and other dogs. So, on the 4th, after Lisle's fireworks were let off, Rerun had settled into bed between my parents. My dad's sleeping hand movement was met with a bite. Just enough for one puncture. Rerun was scared and trying to sleep. I'm sure he didn't know what was moving toward him, and he probably thought it was one of my parents' dogs.
My dad's hand swelled up big by Sunday, and after an hour wait at the Walgreens doc-in-a-box, he was instructed to go to the ER. He stayed in Good Samaritan hospital for 3 days thanks to the infection.
We found out upon our return late Sunday (Is 80/94 ever NOT under construction through Indiana?).
My dad was very good natured about it. He knew Rerun as well as we did. He knew, We all knew, though, that it could be Miette the next time she closed in on him, or the baby that will be joining us in September grabbing his tail.
All things considered rationally, we made the right choice euthanizing him. He was in constant pain. He'd lived a very nice life after being rescued. He could become dangerous in a house with children. However, I have (fortunately for me, really) not felt pain like I did this weekend. They gave us the option to drop him off or to be with him. I did not want his last sight to be the vet. He hated to go to the vet, so I wanted to give him that little comfort. We both did. It was over as soon as it started, with a simple injection. I watched the life leave his eyes. The nurse laid him down on his bad side, and he laid so peacefully as we sobbed over his tiny body. I couldn't get his eyes to stay closed. I wanted them to so badly.
I miss my little Rerun so much. What a terrible thing to have him missing from my life. What a big hole that little dog left.
For my friends who are not yet Parents, I don't envy the task you will one day have of explaining to a 3-year-old what "dead" means.
For my friends who know loss, many of whom know Profoundly greater loss than that of a pet, I do not write this looking for sympathy. I am writing to get it out of my head. To let those who read this know where my head has been for the last 10 days.
To Honor him and to let the world know that I love him.
But not for sympathy. I am privileged to have had Rerun in my life. Regardless of how it had to end.