In Memory of Jake the Dog

We've had the misfortune of losing a friend who was very dear to us, a yellow lab named Jake. Jake was the best friend of our very good friends Maggie and Charlie. Tonight we went to Maggie and Charlie's house to drink a toast to Jake, share some stories, and console our friends who just lost their four-legged loved one.

Jake was 12 years old, and lived a dog's dream life. Maggie and Charlie are quite possibly the best dog parents I've ever seen; Jake is quite possibly the luckiest dog to ever exist to have had such wonderful people in his life.

Maggie and Charlie used to bring Jake into work with them at the yacht rigging shop. All it took was a "Hey Snakey Jake!" to get him to come out, wag, grin and do that little dance that labradors do so well when they are excited to see you. Once the initial excitement wore off, Jake would be sure to lie down at my feet and give my ankle an affectionate lick as Todd and I discussed our latest rigging drama with Maggie.

Dinner at Maggie and Charlie's was always a blast with Jake around. Jake had a thing for smoked gouda. When we were having hors d'ourves in their living room around the coffee table, we had to be sure to guard the gouda. If you dropped the ball on guarding the gouda, all you'd see is a fuzzy yellow blur, and then the gouda would be gone. Jake would retreat to a corner of the room licking his lips at his latest score. If you happened to be in the kitchen during the gouda snatching all you'd hear is "Oh nononononononono Jaaaaake!" and you knew what happened, because it always sounded the same.

Here are some pictures of Jake the Snake. We'll miss you Jake. You were a good dog and a good friend.





You just know that he was fantacizing about gouda when this picture was taken.