My Old Man...he's pretty fuzzy

My old man, that's Cosmo I'm talking about, not the "hubby," is a great man!  At a whopping 12 years old, he still makes me smile every day.  At 12 years old, however, he is also making me sad because I know that our years together are limited.  I have heard of Shih-tzus living 15, 16, or 17 years, but even that only gives me 3, 4, or 5 more years with my favorite fuzzy guy.

Cosmo has been my best friend ever since we got him.  He was my first baby and, boy, have I treated him like one!  I taught him tricks when he was younger - sit, shake, lay, roll over, and high five.  These days, if I tell him to do something, he usually just falls over on his side and looks at me like, "This is all you're gonna get."  

Cosmo was there when we brought Leah home from the hospital, perched in the window of our little apartment in Berea, wagging his tail.  My mom was there with him and kept telling him that we were going to bring him a baby.  When we got there, he climbed right up on the car seat and sniffed his new "baby," and must have approved because he became Leah's "guardian."  He would lay beside her while she napped. If she cried and I didn't get to her fast enough, he'd come looking for me.  When she wasn't feeling well, he would lay beside of her.  When she would grab his ears as she got older and yank, he'd try really hard not to bite, but would snarl his lip up and look at me angrily.  

My Cosmo has been there for me through many rough times.  He was there with me when I had my first miscarriage.  He lay on the couch with me as I cried.  He was there for me when I had my 2nd miscarriage and let me pet him and talk to him and cry.  He was there for me as I mourned the loss of my beloved Granny.   He has been there for me through the happy times, like when we brought Logan home from the hospital and when we moved to our current home.  He has gone through many birthday parties with us and never stops begging the party-goers for food!

I say, with confidence, that Cosmo is definitely a Mama's boy!  We know each other pretty well...in his old age, he's gotten pretty stubborn and very set in his ways.  He is losing his hearing and I have to talk very loud or get really close to his ear when I talk to him.  We sort of have our own language though, as crazy as that sounds...He knows when I point that he is supposed to go, he knows when I clap my hands or pat my legs that we are going out.  I also know his little perks such as when he sits on the floor and shifts from foot to foot and whines that he needs to go out.  If he wants a drink, trust me, you'll know it!  It never ceases to amaze me that he knows what time he eats and he gets incredibly hyper when it is his supper time. You could practically set your clock by him!  

Yesterday, when the man come to fix our heat, he rang the doorbell...this was something that would always send Cosmo into a barking frenzy of excitement.  However, yesterday, Cosmo never even heard the doorbell - he just kept sleeping.  My guy is getting old...but he's still got a lot of life left in  him.  

I wonder what the future will hold for him...I hope that the rest of his years are good ones for him...Either way, I promise him that I will be there for him - through the good times and the bad - just like he has been for me!