Halfway through his life, Pearl arrived. They got along as well as possible even though she became the "boss".
But even though she sometimes made his life harder, it seemed, he would pine for her when she wasn't there, and they got along as well as two dogs will, never ever fighting.
In the summer they would lie together on the deck, sunning themselves endlessly. What a life.
And always an ambassador for his breed. My friend Joe came to visit, and when he returned home he decided he wanted, then finally got, a Boston Terrier.
And then of course he got older, and put more white on his face, and his outdoor sessions got shorter.
And by his last month, he had eye problems and couldn't see anything beyond about ten feet. He had arthritis in his leg, a bad back. And then he had a seizure. It turned out he had an inoperable brain tumor.
He went on anti-seizure medicine, but he was half the dog he had been, after that. It was a great favor to me. For his last two weeks he lost some awareness. His world got smaller for a while. But it gave me one last chance to call his name and have him come, one last chance to chase that ball.
Two days ago he had a set of seizures. If you've ever seen a dog have a seizure, it's horrible. After he had multiples the vet decided to put him under for 12 hours. This is an attempt to "reset" the brain a little. But when Bean came to, yesterday morning, he had a heart failure, and then couldn't breathe normally, and couldn't get enough oxygen to his brain. I gave the call to put him down.
I will never forget you, my first boy, my friend.