Memorial Day Weekend 2006 was a real tough weekend. Friday May 26th Christine and I had to say good-bye to one of the family. Petey was such a huge part of our lives and it was one of the toughest moments of my life to let him go. I wanted to write this sooner but it has been a painful time and has been tough concentrating on the good.

Petey was truly man's best friend, he was a personality, a protector and was never really a pet. I had owned basically a rundown shack in Baltimore in 1992 and the Tenant at the time (Rufus) had a pitbull that had a litter of 8 pups. His backyard(my backyard actually) looked like a scene from Sanford and Son - junk all over the place. The pack of pitbulls were only 4 weeks old but already were jockeying for position. Petey was the underdog - he was the runt of the litter.

He was frail and dirty. I recall a mid-afternoon feeding and Petey was pushed out of the way and didn't get one bit of food with the other pups feasting. I noticed the cut on his leg from metal scraps in the yard. I couldn't bare any more. I wish I had the capability to take care of all of the pups, but I didn't have the means at 22 to take on that responsibility with work and just finishing college.

I thought this little dog was awesome he had the coolest patch over his eye just like the Little Rascals dog. I gave Rufus $40 for Petey and ran to the store to get show puppy chow, dog bowls and shampoo. I put the whole bag of Puppy Chow on the floor and Petey jumped into the bag. He had had one of the biggest feasts in his short life (little did he know more were to come.)

I picked him up after dinner to give him a bath and was astonished at all of the fleas on his little body - The bathtub water looked like chocolate chip ice cream there were so many dots.

Christine and I were dating and she was worried that this pitbull would be jealous of her and clamp on her neck in the middle of the night. She came to find out that all this dog wanted to do was jump in bed and snuggle.

We had 14 wonderful years with Petey. He was the life of the party at times. I taught him to speak on command and it was the coolest growling type of talking you could ever imagine. He jumped up and gave high fives, and gave kisses. This dog was spectacular. We sent him on vacation to many of of friends houses they loved watching Pete. I used to take him to the park and run him all around. YOu would just have to say go and he would fly off leaving a cloud of dust behind and always come back. He never left our sides.

I remember when we lived in Owings Mills just after we had gotten married that kids would come by and ask Petey to come out and play. Two of the boys had on roller blades and one would hold Petey's collar while the other one took off down the street with Petey's bone. The kids were basically skitching on Pete's back. I wish I had video of that.

Petey was there for the birth of Devon and DJ and protected those kids like a parent. It was pretty tough to tell these kids that their little brother had gone to heaven. DJ is still wondering when Petey will come back. They have drawn the best pictures to cherish their memories of him.

Petey had trouble with his hind leg area for quite sometime 10-11 months but I couldn't stand letting go. During the last few weeks Petey slept with me like the old days and I loved it. It was a great comfort for me during some really hard times and I really wish here were now. I know he is much better off without the pain.

Pete - I miss you buddy. Thanks for all of the great memories, you were the best.