Ray Rhode wrote...My favorite Chester story goes back to one of your early camping trips to Alabama. You left Morgan with us for the weekend. When you returned Chester was very lethargic and laid around without moving even his ears when you called him. This continued after you got back to Longwood. After a couple of days you became very concerned and took him to the vet. The vet checked him out and said that there was nothing wrong with him; that he was just “exhausted”. That’s the Chester I want to remember.
Gramps

One of my favorite Chester stories

One of my favorite Chester stories is from when he was very young, in other words, before children. He was very good about not begging when we were eating. This was before Seymour and Jeanette practically had him sitting at the table while they ate. Yvette and I had cooked two huge steaks on the grill and I had brought them into the kitchen. Yvette had cut hers in half and left half on the counter. We were eating in the back room for some reason, I think the TV was back there then. We had been eating for a couple minutes when Chester comes prancing around the corner into the back room with "his" half of the steak in his mouth just as proud as he could be that he had found his own dinner. Somewhat stunned, we didn't say anything for a couple of seconds and then Yvette screamed something rather unintelligible and Chester dropped the steak and ran. We just laughed.

Who is going to help us open Christmas and birthday presents?!

Chester LOVED to open presents. I think Christmas morning was one of his favorite days of the year as much for the unwrapping frenzy that lasted all morning as for the presents he got. He could always sniff out his bone or toy under the tree on Christmas, and once we gave him the "OK" to start, he would tear into it with a gusto. I don't know why, but I always wrapped his presents in tissue paper. I'm sure he hated it because, as you can see in the picture, it stuck to his mouth a lot. When his presents were opened...look out - he was coming to help you with yours whether you needed it or not. Sometimes he got a little carried away and started destroying boxes we really needed to keep or grabbing part of the gift that was inside of it, too.

Even though he loved to open presents, he was such a good dog; he would always wait for us to start opening first before "digging in." Afterwards, we liked to cover him with all of the wrapping paper while he chewed on his Christmas bone. He was usually too worn out from opening to protest much.

the Desselles said...
"After hearing so many wonderful stories about Chester, we feel very lucky
to have gotten to spend a few days him, oh yeah and his family, back in
2001. He was just as wonderful and luvable as his build-up. From the
pictures we found, there was definitely a pattern forming regarding his
tug-of-war prowess and his swimming talents. Amanda and Lindsey could have
spent all night playing with him in the pool, and I believe he would have
been happy to oblige them. He was such a "people" dog and welcomed us into
his home with lots of nudges and kisses. My favorite memory of Chester was
when Joe-Bird kept calling Chester's name.....but with Chriss' exact voice.
I had never seen (or heard) anything like it, and Chester kept running in
and out of the room looking for Chriss. Saying goodbye is especially hard
when there is so much love between you. I'm sure Chester is up in heaven
right now laying on a soft bed, by a crystal clear lake, surrounded by chew
toys and ropes, and watching over the family he left behind. Goodbye dear
Chester....you will be missed. Love, The Desselles"

Chester & Saturday --- a Special Romance

In spite of the age difference, I think Chester was Saturday's first boyfriend! Why else would he howl like that and she wag her tail incessantly each morning and evening during our walks by the house? As you know, up until Saturday, we were not much of a pet-owning family (except for a gerbil that lived for five long years!), but Chester helped us learn the ropes and appreciate the beauty that only a dog can bring to one's life.

We miss you, Chester! Saturday says hey!
Love,
Jill, Jim, Alex and Saturday

Sim said...I'm going to miss Chester a lot. I loved all of his qualities. He was love and fun and warmth and fuzziness all rolled into one...just the best combination you could ask for. He was gentle... like when he'd walk up and put his head on my lap to get a neckrub. I'll also miss the intensity in his eyes when you were going to throw a tennis ball for him. He was all business then. He was also very dependable. It never failed that when I pulled up in the car to mom and dad's house across the street from his house, he'd be at his door and give me a "hello!" bark, just to let me know he was there. He even got Steeler to do this after a while, because he knew if I had the time, I'd go over and let them out and give them a biscuit. At bedtime, he'd even give us a bark "goodnight" out his front door, and we'd say "goodnight" out our window and we'd see him turn and go to bed. I'll also miss how he'd gently take a portion of the leash in his mouth when I'd take him for a walk. He was simply the best...always so happy, and so loving. God bless you Chester! See you in heaven! Love, Sim

Kari said...I am so very sorry and sad to hear about Chester. What a rare and wonderful guy he was! I remember how happy he was to be camping and swimming in that big lake and how happy he was to just have someone throw a ball in the pool for him! He was a blessing to have been with your family (and ours)for such a long and active life. Peaceful blue skies and blue water forever, Chester!! Love ya man! Aunt Kari

Chester swimming

When I said goodbye to Chester I asked him to find a big lake in heaven for us to swim in together and I'd see him there one day. We would go camping every year around Labor Day up in Alabama. That was as close to heaven as it got for Chester because he LOVED swimming more than anything else in the world. As we would drive up the dirt road by the lake, Sonny would open the windows to the truck so Chester would know that we were getting close. He would smell the lake water and start to get very antsy. Then Sonny would open the car door when we got there and he would race down the hill through the woods and about 3 minutes later we'd hear the big splash and a lot of yelping (he yelped like a seal when he was in the water - we have no idea why. It was like he was so excited that he just yelped and that's the sound that came out). When he was younger he just couldn't get enough of jumping off of the dock. We started throwing tennis balls and sticks, but then we found out that a half-filled water bottle went further. I love to swim in a lake, too, so sometimes we'd just swim around together leisurely. Other times, like in this video I'm posting, we would have races to the water bottle. When he was younger, he'd give me a run for my money and often beat me. Later on he'd swim slower and I'd sometimes have to let him win. No doubt about it, Chester made the lake really fun.

Memorial to Chester

This blog is a memorial to our dog, Chester who passed away on July 6th around 4:00 p.m. My purpose and goal for this blog is to collect people's stories and pictures, and eventually put them in a memorial book for our family. I know that many of you will ask what you can do, and my answer would be to post your favorite Chester story on our blog so we can laugh about it for years to come.

Since he passed away, we have recounted so many "Chester moments" already with the Lenz', our wonderful neighbors and Chester's adoptive grandparents who were there with us every step of the way yesterday (there are not enough thanks you's to you, Seymour, Jeanette & Sim). While we laughed and cried our way through yesterday, we uncovered stories that I had almost forgotten, and I want to write them all down so I don't forget, thus this blog. I can't possibly remember them all myself! I have quickly compiled some pictures and a video to get it started. I am an emotional wreck as I type this and I am doing it quickly to get the word out of his passing, so it is NOT quality work and I know they're not his most handsome shots I have of him. Hopefully the quality of the stories and pictures will increase as we heal. Thanks for even taking the time to even visit Chester's blog page and a double thanks to those of you who share a story or photo.

Yvette