I have not written in this blog for quite some time now, in fact it has been nearly three years since I last wrote. It is not because I don’t have an opinion anymore, but it seems that my opinion is being cancelled out because it is not in line with the “Main Stream”. This is a sad realization for me and the future generations of opinions to come. Though I have not written in three years, that is not the meaning of the title to this blog today.

Two weeks ago, my poor little pooch of 14 years, Scruffy, passed away in his sleep. Fine one day, gone the next. We loved that crazy little dog, no matter how much he pissed us off (or literally pissed on everything). He was the dog that no matter how angry you were with him, he still loved you, licked your face, tried to lick your ears for some reason, and he just always wanted to be loved.

Not a full week after the passing of my good friend Scruffy, we get a call from my mother in law saying that my wife’s older sister is in the hospital and not doing well. With little to go on we decided to open a bottle of wine and wait for further news. It came quickly and it was bad news. I immediately put my wife on a plane to go see her, but the outlook was not good. After making a bunch of phone calls and devouring another bottle of wine in my worry, the thought entered my mind…they come in 3’s.

My beautiful sister in law Jennifer passed away and my daughter and I made the trip to go be with the family and celebrate her life, we were gone for a week and even when we got home it just felt so empty. No little dog to love on us and irritate us at the same time. The loss of a wonderful person sat heavy on our hearts, and we just felt the loss hit home.

I still could not help but to feel this aching in my heart, a disturbance in the force if you will. Why wont this feeling go away? That is when it happened, number three. I get a message from my best friend of 32 years that his Dad Paul, who had been fighting cancer, had passed away. And that did it folks, that one broke the dam, it opened up a stream of sadness, anger, darkness and distress. It had happened, two people that I loved wholeheartedly and my unconditionally loving dog had all left my life in a matter of a week.

I need to tell anyone who bothers to read my rambling, incoherent nonsense of a blog a little about each of the loved that I lost, so here it goes…

Scruffy, the one who was in my life for the least amount of time, but the one who I know loved me in a way that no humans can ever love each other. There is always the joke about putting your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car, going for a drive and then seeing which one is happy to see you when you let them out. That in a nutshell was my Scruffy. There was no way to anger this dog, he never growled at a single person or ever intentionally tried to bite. He truly loved everyone he met and his sweet soul will be missed. What more can you ask for out of a dog, unconditional love is the greatest thing mans best friend has to offer and anyone who has never experienced that love needs to go get a dog ASAP!

RIP Scruffy 2007-2021

Jennifer was probably one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my entire life. She was the type of woman that would do anything for the ones she loved. Life was hard on Jen, and she was the least deserving of the harshness that life threw at her. No human being deserves to go through what she did in her life, I wouldn’t wish it on a mortal enemy. I have so many fond memories of her that it is hard to pick a favorite one., but this one is near the top of the list.

Nearly 20 years ago, my brother in law and I would often drink by a camp fire on the weekends and just enjoy the outdoors. Our loving sister in law Jen worked late into the night sometimes and saw us out having some beers late one night on her way home from work. To our delight, she stopped in to have a beer and chat with her two favorite brothers. Earlier in our drunken camp fire, before Jen arrived, we decided to see what would happen if you stuck a full can of beer in the campfire…well we forgot it was there. Not minutes after Jen sits by the fire, we found out what happens. That can blew up so loud and sprayed embers and sparks right in her direction, knocking her clean out of the chair. She got mad, brushed herself off, laughed, called us dumb and sat back down to enjoy our drunken company. Now, most people, if you blow them up with explosive beer, would get very angry and probably leave or plot revenge. Not Jen, never Jen. She loved hard, fought harder and will always be a loving memory in my heart and mind.

RIP Jennifer1977-2021

Paul was a man that I looked up to. Being around him was like having a second dad. Not many people in this world are blessed with having two loving fathers in their life, but Paul always treated me as if I were one of his own, including doing chores around the house. Paul was always the life of the party, he could make anyone laugh, just his presence was warming and wonderful to be around. When I turned 16 Paul gave me a job at Safeway where he was the manager. He was always able to help work around my schedule for school or other events, so yeah he was also a great boss. He raised my best friend to be a wonderful, hardworking man. He has three beautiful daughters that love him dearly, and a wife that is without question an amazing woman and mother to her family. I know that at some point in life we all have to say goodbye, but Paul is one man who I wish I never had to say goodbye to. You will be truly missed and were loved by many, make sure you have cold beer ready for me when we meet again.

RIP Paul 1950-2001