Pictorial Memories of Cosmo's 8 Years With Us

We have been going through our pictures of Cosmo, and we have laughed and cried and had some wonderful memories of past good times where he was a part of us.  I want to share just a few with you.  My plan is to make a little memory book of him.  He was such a part of our lives for the last 8 years, with so many transitions that took place in our lives - moving from Kingsland to Georgetown to Jarrell, and then to Idaho.  He is wrapped up forever in the memory fabric of our lives for the past eight years.

Cosmo first came into our lives through my sister.  She had been going through a very difficult time in her life and some well meaning friends gave her a puppy, hoping this sweet little bundle of love would help her through problems she was facing.  She fell in love with Cosmo, and we did too when we met him.  Cosmo loved my sister first and has never forgotten her.  The only problem was that my sister's job kept her away most of the time, and she was only home in the mornings, and late at night. Poor little Cosmo just wasn't handling the separation from her, and being lonely was not something he handled well.  So, my sister asked me if we would take Cosmo in until she was able to provide a better home for him.  So, we agreed.  We already had one dog in the house, Rover, and hoped that Rover would be okay with a new friend, and he was.  He and Cosmo got on wonderfully.

One thing we noticed right away was just how sad Cosmo was if he was separated from us, even if it was just a doorway separating us!  He would just stand there and look in so sad.  He couldn't bear to ever be left alone.

And with us, he was never alone. I worked at home, and was home all the time.  He was content just to be in the same room with me or the kids, but he certainly didn't object to teddy bears and cuddling with the kids, or any activity the kids wanted him to do, just as long as he got to be with us.

Shortly after Cosmo came to live with us, a stray cat took up residence with us - Oreo.  (I had begun to feel that there was an invisible sign over our door that read "Animal Shelter"!!! ) Little Oreo was very special to us as well.  She and Cosmo became fast friends.

I found the two of them sleeping together like this quite often.  Oreo adored Cosmo.  Rover, on the other hand, was rather annoyed with all the biting and playing that Cosmo liked to do.  Sadly, one day Rover left to play with one of his many doggie friends that roamed our neighborhood, and never came home. We posted lost signs, and looked for him everywhere to no avail.  Our neighbors, with whose dog Rover had been seen last with, never found their dog either.  We will never know what happened to them, and we really mourned the loss of Rover.

Cosmo easily slipped into his role as chief master of the home.

He was very patient and kind with the kids as they loved to dress him up, and play with him.  He never complained, and was always happy to be a part of whatever we were doing!

More snuggles with Oreo - under my office chair.  Yes - both animals liked to cuddle under my chair.  I never could get up in a hurry - I never knew who was under me!!

Cosmo did not care too much about swimming.  But he would get in the water, up to about his belly, and just kind of lay there, and then he would get out, and he was done.  He did not like swimming in deep water at all.

Cosmo's fur required frequent trips to the groomer.  He always looked so pitiful and sad when he would come home. We had a lot of stickers and thorns in our yard, so I had him cut close so that he wouldn't bring in the stickers in his fur.  Our kids teased him, and said that he looked so sad because he felt "nekkid"... lol!

Cosmo loved the piano.  Anytime anyone began to play the piano, you could look for Cosmo, and there he was under the piano bench - right by your feet.

I laughed when I found this picture of Cosmo.  If we went to town, or were gone for very long, when we returned home, we would see this little head peeking out the pet door, just waiting for us... and when he knew it was us... out he would come bounding, and jumping, and hollering his special little howl of joy to us! We had just moved into this house, and as you can see, there was a lot of mud because we hadn't gotten gravel delivered yet.  I'll never forget those awful days of mud.  Thankfully Cosmo did not like the mud and chose to stay just inside the door with his head peeking out... what a cutie!

This picture was taken in Texas!  We had gotten a few inches of powdery snow and Cosmo was outside just having a grand time in the snow.  The only problem with his fur was that the snow would stick to his fur, and then he would get cold.  We always wrapped him up in a blanket after being outside in any kind of snow because of the snow sticking to his fur!

And then one day, another fluffy bundle of fur entered our lives... Annie, our sweet husky/German Shepherd mix. It is hard to believe looking at these pictures that she was that little just two years ago!

Cosmo immediately bonded with Annie, and they were fast friends right away.

Our little Annie

And Cosmo, who looked big compared to Annie!  (Can't even imagine that now!!)

We tried to coax Annie into the little wading pool to cool off during the hot July summer, but she would have none of it.  For Cosmo, it was perfect.  He loved to just stand in the wading pool and cool off.

Annie grew and grew very fast.  It didn't take her long to outgrow Cosmo!

Their favorite thing to do was one of my favorite things to do - and that was to walk.  Annie quickly learned that walking was something to get excited about, and every chance to get in the car to go anywhere, they took no coaxing, they were ready to go.

Both dogs loved exploring in the woods in the deep snow.



Poor Cosmo though - the snow would always stick to his fur, and he ended up looking a little bedragled after every snow adventure!



I love this picture of him with his face to the north wind ready for all adventures about to take place!





Playing on the ice on our driveway this past winter.



He and Annie thought the ice was great fun to play on!



Walking down the snow-covered roads on a beautiful clear day.



Poor Cosmo - the wet sticky snow wasn't any fun for him today! He looked so pitiful!



We had to take him inside down by the wood stove to dry him off with a nice warm towel.  This particular snow was so sticky that it just clung to him, and he could hardly walk - poor thing!



Yet, even while his fur wasn't suited for the snow like Annie's is, Cosmo was such a trooper when it was time to go outside in the snow.  He was game for it all.  His happy little face just shone when it was time to go play in the snow!



Annie and Cosmo with Cheetah, my friend's dog.  We often hiked together, and all three dogs would have a blast as we hiked.  I love this picture of them!

Moving away from snowy, cold pictures, this is a picture of Cosmo in July. We were out at Priest Lake, and Cosmo was as happy as a lark to be there with us.

 

A picture of Cosmo just a week or so ago as we sat outside enjoying the sunshine.

Cosmo loved to ride in the back of the pickup with his face to the wind.



Happy, happy, happy they were, riding in the pickup bed!

This is the last picture I have of Cosmo, and the last picture that was on my camera when I went to check it.  This picture is simply adorable of him, and true to life.  What a happy sweet little soul he was.  

He will forever be missed.  

I found this little poem on Pinterest, and thought I would share it here with my tribute to Cosmo.  This certainly sums up the feelings of my heart as I work through the grief of losing my precious little friend of 8 years.