I picked up Argos in Ocala Florida. I had been with Pfizer
for a little over a year I think and I decided I was ready for a dog. Florence
was so exciting (ha) and I had plenty of time on my hands. So I did all the
research and decided on a breeder. Argos’ original name was “Chance.” This was
short for Fat Chance because he was the runt of the litter. Martin gets credit
for Argos because he reminded me of reading the Odyssey in Mrs. Boleman’s class
in high school. Argos was the dog bred by Odysseus before he went to fight the
Trojan War. His loyalty is legendary since he waited 10 years on the dock for
his master to return. I can’t remember what I paid but I left Ocala with a
little cardboard box in the passenger seat with my new best friend in it. I
made him a promise that we would have a great life together. This is my attempt
to capture some of the memories from that life together.
One of my favorite memories is traveling out to Utah to head
down the Green River. Arg rode in the minivan and couldn’t wait to get out.
Once we were there I think he had the time of his life. We had two canoes and
he would get anxious if we separated too much. His barking would only stop if
we stayed close together. He also didn’t want to miss anything and I have a
video of him sleeping while sitting up. We would stop along the way and throw
the ball on a sand bar until it was time to get moving again. It was a great
trip.
While I was working in Florence, Mom convinced me to use the
money from the sale of my Tacoma to buy a sailboat. Argos was happiest there.
Every weekend we would head down to Charleston and live on the boat. He slept
across from me in the salon and I even got him to climb the stairs out a few
times. When we were underway he would head up to the bow to bar at the waves as
they broke. He hated splashing water.
Kathryn brought up that she will miss his face in the window
beside the door. Argamemnon (he had so many names I am surprised he answered to
anything) would wait for us to come home and you could be sure his silhouette
would be there waiting. He would also make the best clicking noise as he walked
on the hardwood floor. Late at night, he would slowly click from our bedroom to
the back door when he would burst through the dog door to try and surprise a
deer. I will miss that sound. I also loved the sighs he would let out when he
laid down. We would say he was “bore”-gos.
After we had the kids the “A man” would ride with me to drop
them off at daycare. He loved to be in the car and I would come back out and
see him sitting the passenger seat waiting for me. He spent so much time
driving back and forth from Florence I think the car was his second home in his
mind. One night as we rode through Flo-town, Phil Collins’ “In the air tonight”
came on the radio and the street lamps danced in the windows in such a way that
it felt like we were Crocket and Tubbs from Miami Vice.
I am on a plane coming back from two weeks in California.
One week was for work and the other was a chance to heal. Kathryn came out for
the weekend and we rode up the coast and then Morgan came out and we hiked Half
Dome in Yosemite and then the Narrows in Zion. I am sure I could come up with
more stories but I am teary on the plane already. Below is what I wrote for the
Mount Pleasant magazine. I don’t know if it will be published but I can’t
conclude it better than this.
Argos has been my best friend for almost a third of my life.
During that time we have had some amazing adventures and he has made me a
better person. We have canoed down the Green River in Utah for 80+ miles and
backpacked in the southeast for many more. He has been in the shotgun seat for
more than 10,000 miles as i commuted back and forth to Florence while I worked
there. On the weekends we lived on a sailboat and he learned how to jump in the
forward hatch and climb up the stairs to get out. He is constantly on patrol
for the sound of splashing water whether it be breaking on the bow or driving
through a puddle. Argos retrieves the ball with the best of them either on
Sullivan's or diving off a dock. He has presided over the girls I dated and
helped me propose to my wife by carrying the ring on his collar. When my twins
were born he welcomed them into my home and protected them while we ran around
trying to keep the house together. He is a old dog now and one who is suffering
from lymphoma. Despite that he continues to show me how I should live. No
regrets for what was undone yesterday and no anxiety of what is to come
tomorrow. We have tried chemo but the treatment was worse than the disease. So
for these next few days he will maintain his position as the best friend I've
ever had and then will leave this world on his own terms and feeling good. He
is a unique soul that I pray to meet again in Heaven.
