I am forever changed because of you, Zipper. I will never be able to eat chicken McNuggets again without feeling I had to had over half to you. My weekend mornings will be devoid of the happiness I felt each time we went for our walks. I will never get another chance to hold you close and show you how much you mean to me. My life feels diminished in your absence.
When Rita first brought the idea of getting a dog to my attention, I was against it for so many reasons. I felt like we needed to have a secure fence that a dog couldn’t jump over or get through. I didn’t want to have to kennel a dog in a small area like we had to do with my first dog when we moved from a house with a spacious back yard, to one that had virtually none.
Even though I felt my objections were sound and logical, she insisted that I was only imposing restrictions on her. I still remember the look on her face when she opened her Pound Puppy Christmas present and found the gift certificate for the Humane Society. From that day forward, my life was changed irrevocably. I learned what unconditional love was and how to reciprocate it. I knew what love felt like, but I had never felt the same kind of love that I had for Zipper. She may have been a dog at birth, but she was my daughter in my heart. I would like to believe that I told her as much in the time that we had together.
When Rita and I separated and eventually got divorced, the hardest nights of my life were the first few weeks not being able to see Zipper all the time or curl-up with her for bed. For the first time in a long time, I felt alone. Our weekend walks helped remedy that, to an extent. The times when I would come over to keep you company made it feel like old times, until I had to leave. You always knew that I would be back for you, and I always knew that you’d be there for me.
I don’t regret the decision of getting Zipper in the slightest, even though it has broken my heart to see her leave our lives so soon. Every person she met, she indelibly touched their life. She was great with kids and good with most everyone she met. She may not have been too friendly with other dogs, but that was because she wasn’t really a dog person.
I feel like you’re with me every time I drive my van, and that gives me a sense of peace. The tattoo on my arm shows that you’ll be with me wherever I go, and that comforts me. You will be missed, but you will never be forgotten.
To paraphrase Captain Jame T. Kirk: Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, hers was the most... human.
-John (Zipper's Dad)
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