Button Boone

She was a special dog. Born in 2002, given to Carla's mother (Peggy), when Peggy developed dementia in 2009 and we moved her to Birmingham to look after her (Carla's brother played no role in caring for his mother) and we got the dog. I renamed her Button; (my 2nd dog as a kid Dad named button). We had an Australian Shepherd, Blackjack (named after a cat I had as a kid); BJ (6/4/1998) and Button became great friends. We were given Ruby (12/21/2002), Jonathan brought Pal home from a storm (9/19/2004 -- 1/10/2007) so until BJ died (4/10/10) we had either 2 or 3 dogs. Cookie (Australian Shepherd born 5/5/2008) arrived in 2010 after BJ died giving us 3 dogs. Ruby died 3/27/15 just as we got the lake house. When the dogs were in the kitchen at night Button would bark during a thunder storm. After Ruby died Button never barked again during a storm. Cookie and Button were great friends; Cookie seems lost now that she is an only child. They often slept in the same bed and never fought. Whenever Cookie barked Button would join in even if she did not know what she was barking at. Button was my dog. She always followed me around and if you saw me she was never far behind. She often laid down under my chair. Button started coughing and getting short of breath about the same time we diagnosed Carla's breast cancer (December 2019). She retained fluid; at first she could still go on walks but as she progressed our last walk was May 14th and we had to cut it short and slow our pace. At times she seemed to improve, but as time went on her shortness of breath (SOB) and panting got worse and worse. I never had a dog before with difficulty breathing. Her struggles to breathe were so like Clyde it brought back bad memories. Like Clyde she was a trooper, refused to give up following me around despite struggling. Thursday night (May 28th) when I took the trash to the street, she followed me just like she always did. We stopped to rest so she could get her breath. She died in my arms; I regret her loss and hope her spirit lives on. Cookie seems lost and for the first time is an only child. I think the older you are the more death sucks. Maybe those who die young are really the lucky ones. As Evan often said: This too shall pass. Midnight Choir; (Larry Gatlin): Will they have Dogs (Mogen David) in heaven? Dear Lord, we'd all like to know; Will they have Dogs in Heaven, Sweet Jesus? If they don't, who the hell wants to go? Button: Born 10/12/2002 -- arrived 2009 (Vet visit 3/4/2010) -- 5/30/2020

Button Boone

May 30, 2020