He chose me. His gorgeous gray face lept out at me when I was idly looking at adoptable dogs. We’d just lost our basset hound and really, truly, we weren’t ready for another dog. Until I saw Cyrus’ face. Even now, thinking of that moment, I tear up. He was that beautiful, though he preferred the terms “handsome” or “majestic.” The moment we met him, he wagged his stump of a tail so hard. I hugged him, scratched his back, and asked if I could be his mom. He wasn’t a young man when he came home to us. He wasn’t spry or agile but he could clear a table and a counter when we weren’t looking. Sometimes, he’d bring down the table’s contents even when we were looking. Recognizing how unlikely it was that we could change his ways, I’d just pick up whatever he’d knocked over, scratch his butt, and hand him a treat. He put on a few pounds this year, I blame all of that on me. Now that I know how short his time with us was, I have not a single regret about his weight gain or all those treats. Almost every time he ate one of those treats, we paused to admire how gently he accepted it and how gracefully he chewed it. Cyrus was our gorgeous boy from August 10, 2014, until his body failed him on September 5, 2015. I don’t know how his story began but I know how it ended — surrounded by love and living with a family who adored him. We will always be grateful to NorCal GSP Rescue for bringing Cyrus into our lives. Though his days with us were short, they were full of love. And treats. Rest in peace, my boy. We loved you well. – Liz Doughty Tan, forever mom
