Buying Time

As the ferry made its way into the harbor and started to slow down, Dodger lifted his head and peered up at me, sensing the shift. I gazed back down at him, considering the days when we were nearly always at eye level. At almost 13 years old, he was no longer able to jump up onto the seat next to me as my first mate. Not that it was permitted by the Steamship Authority, but we were never much for rules anyway. He slowly made his way to his feet and searched for his next cue from me. "We're almost there sweetheart!" I assured him as I scratched behind his ears, lingering on the velvety tips.

It was August of 2021, and we were headed to Nantucket for a celebration of life trip. I had planned it back in June, originally as a girls trip. But when my mother was unable to watch him that particular weekend I saw it as an opportunity to have some much needed one on one time with him, without my kids. After all, he was my first baby and I wasn't sure how much time we had left together. A morbid yet persistent thought.

I booked the Cottages at the Boat Basin, a bit of a splurge for some rustic, above-water cabins. But they were dog friendly and smack in the epicenter of Town, essentially where you want to be in Nantucket. After all, you only live once and unfortunately for dogs, it's a short one.

Dodger sat at my feet and gave me his signature bulldog smile. I caught a glimpse of top of the scar running the length of his abdomen and thought back to the two weeks prior. It had been a regular Friday night at home with the kids and Dodger was trying to find a comfortable spot to settle in for the night. He kept moving from place to place before he stiffened, looked over his shoulder at me in a panic, and collapsed. While two of my three children looked on in horror, I scooped him up into my arms and rushed him to the ER. I knew our time was limited, but I also knew this wasn't the way he was going out.

After a harrowing 8 hours of tests, it was determined that Dodger had a bleeding mass in his spleen that would need to be surgically removed to the tune of $8,000. Thankfully, not one veterinarian nor vet tech said a word about the dangers of intubating a nearly 13 year old bulldog. We had to save my best friend's life. And that is exactly what they did. When the surgeon called me back with the good news, I wept and of course the first thing I asked was "Will we still be able to go on our celebration of life trip in two weeks?" She said "I will personally remove his stitches the day before you're set to leave".

Not only did we buy more time together, but we were headed to one of my favorite places on the planet. Our days would be spent walking all over town, sampling treats, playing on the beach and generally being fawned over by the many dog lovers of Nantucket.

The ferry docked and we made our way down the gangplank and onto the cobblestone streets. We were surrounded by children sticky with ice cream, fishermen cleaning their daily catch, and a eutopia of dogs in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Just a short walk across the docks would take us straight to our cottage overlooking the harbor and all of its splendor. We had an adorable one bedroom cottage with a full kitchen and living room. The doggie concierge provided us with food and water dishes, a dog bed, a ball, frisbee and waste bags. Our friends were headed over with wine and cheese for happy hour while we watched the sun set over million dollar yachts and working class fishing boats. Life was so good that day.

The next few days were spent as promised; long walks every morning to the Island Coffee Company where I would order an iced latte while Dodger would promptly sprawl out on the ground to cool off. This was followed by a slow jog on the beach to chase the birds (him, not me) and back home for a mid-morning nap. Dodger would enjoy a fancy lunch under the table at Slip 14 or on the sand at Jetties Beach. He was welcomed into nearly every store and made friends at every corner.

Every night we would snuggle up in the bed together and he would snore softly, from exhaustion and contentment. The moon was bright, the waves were calm, and my heart was full. Even if it wasn't forever, it was exactly what we needed in that moment in time.

Upon returning home, people viewing the pictures of this "crazy trip" on social media would agree that Dodger was legitimately smiling in every shot. Neither of us knew how much time we had left together, we just knew we were here to get our money's worth.

Epilogue: For the birth of each of my three children, my former husband would create a playlist so we would always remember what song they entered the world to. I asked him to do the same for Dodger's departure. Dodger left us on December 23, 2021, after taking his last breath to Traveller, by Chris Stapleton.