The New Road

Ripley

Ripley "Silly Face" Herrington
1997-2004

Ripley was the best dog I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a part of my life with. We adopted Ripley after she had spent a year on the streets of the Peninsula. She was listed as a greyhound mix. We fed her and she quickly became a pitbull mix. Around that time we were scared of her, but we loved her all the same.

Slowly she mellowed out and fit into everything about our life. She was our baby. She is what held the family together.

Here are just some random thoughts of things that I loved about her:

• I loved the way she would stretch out and point her toes in all directions. Then just fall back to sleep again.
• I loved how she would get up to follow me around when I got up, then if I dallied too long she would lie back down again.
• I liked how I could use hand signals with her, even though I had never trained her, and even though I hardly knew what they meant myself.
• How she was comfortable laying on my side for hours at a time just lazily watching TV.
• How she would follow me on a hike no matter where, or when or how tough.
• How she would sit in the front seat of the car whenever I left her in the car (with the windows rolled down.)
• How she would scratch her face with the side of her paw.
• How she would moan and grumble if you came to bed late and had to move her around because she had stolen your spot.
• How she seemed to understand which days she would be going to work, and what days we would get bagels.
• How she would assume any named thing was a reference to her.

I could keep on with this list forever. I loved her. I still love her. I miss her so very very much. This is all too quick and too unreal.

I don't want to write this. I want her to be back. I want her to be here. I want to spoon her and smell the back of her neck. I want to give her kisses on the nose, and let Megan draw crayon over the white streak on her face. This was too soon and she was too good.