August, 2002.

I wasn’t supposed to be looking for a dog.

I had wanted a dog for several years, but my Ex and I were renting an apartment and it was strictly no dogs allowed. But 2 weeks ago we had bought our first place, a condo in Waukee and now pets were allowed. I had brought up getting a dog again and, in an effort to put me off, my Ex said “Let’s settle in for a few months first.”

On a Saturday morning 2 weeks after we moved in, I was headed out to take care of shopping and errands. I chose to go to Ankeny to handle my business, which was silly as everything could have easily been handled in West Des Moines, but I had been going there for so long it just felt normal. So off to Ankeny I went and when I happened to drive by the ARL, I changed course on a whim and pulled in “just to look.”

When I went to the back this skinny little puppy immediately came up to the gate to greet me, tail wagging. She was jet black, skinny with a whippet body and a face like a lab. In her face, she looked like my in-laws dog, whom I loved.

“Can I see her in a room?” I asked. I looked at the sticker on the cage. This dog was female and her name was Lady. They took me to a room and brought Lady in a minute later. She came in, ran over, tail still wagging, put her front paws on my legs and gave me a big sloppy doggie kiss, right on my face and glasses. And despite my “just gonna look” attitude, I fell in love right there. I spent a few minutes with her and then went back out to my car. All thoughts of shopping and errands forgotten, I headed back to Waukee. I called my Ex on the way an and told her she had to see this puppy. To my surprise, she agreed. I picked her up, we went back, and not long after we were walking out with Lady.

As we got near our car, I saw another young couple walking in, all smiles. The woman happened to see us put Lady in the car and her face fell. She said something to the guy and pointed. He turned and his face fell. It was pretty obvious they were coming to get this little charismatic puppy as well. But we got there first.

On the way home I said I disliked the name Lady. I wanted to name her Obsidian because she was jet black. The Ex didn’t care for it. I said, “How about we take the ‘sid’ part of ‘obsidian’ and the ‘dy’ from ‘lady’, mix it up a bit and call her Sidney?”

And that is how Sidney came into my life.

For near 15 years she has been my constant companion. Always loving, always there. Also, a little troll who would sometimes mess with me, just because she could. Whenever she was trolling me I could only laugh. She was so lovable, how could I do anything else?

For the few years we were in Waukee I wanted a house with a fence for her. Eventually we bought a house and the following spring I spent my bonus to build that fence. I’ll never forget the first time I let her in the backyard with no leash after I finished building it. She ran and jumped, sniffed everything, and then took off at top speed in big circles, a habit I lovingly dubbed as “crack dog.” She reveled in the freedom of the backyard and I was happy for her.

There are so many stories where we had fun or snuggles or she made me laugh or kept me company when I wasn’t well. But I think for now, I’ll keep them to myself. It’s the good memories with her that are helping me get through today. For now, I just want to thank Sidney:

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for letting me be your Dad.

Thank you for being my friend.

Thank you for being my doggie.

I love you and I’ll miss you.