One of my best friends on this earth passed away this morning.

Near my 12th birthday my parents took me over to a friends house. A huge yellow lab greeted us as we drove onto her property. Her garage was opened and there were little lab puppies everywhere. I still didn’t clue in. I remember my parents picking a certain one up and handing him to me...Happy Birthday!

What!!! I remember she shock, I had been begging...for several years! Although we couldn’t bring him home for several more weeks, my dad and I named him Chester that night. I still remember sitting in the car in San Luis Obispo, thinking up names.

I loved Chester the minute I first held him, he was so soft and cute. As the years went on my love for him only grew. I potty trained him, I took him to a six week long obedience course...twice. He was my pal, and the best pal that an only child can have is her dog!

We hiked, backpacked, and ran along the beach zillions of times throughout my childhood, adolescence, and adult years. We nicknamed him “C-Pup” and “Chester the Molester”. He could catch a cookie off his nose. He loved bread more than anything, and used to climb onto the countertop to lick the butter when we weren’t home. 10 years ago he buried an entire Costco box of Power Bars throughout the yard. Every once in awhile we find a dirty chewed up Power Bar on the back porch.

Chester would have turned 16 years young on September 15th of this year. He lived a much longer and more fruitful life than most labs. He was so very loved by so many people, especially me.

I am going to miss him so much. But I know that he left this world peacefully and in the arms of my mom and dad. He will now be able to run across the beaches in the sky without getting tired, this time catching all those birds he used to chase.