Johnny Apple Head

My life with Johnny Apple Head was one that started in a life-altering way for me. You see, I owned his parents. His dad was a Lemon Bassett and I save his mom who was a black Pitbull. I had never owned a female dog before so I didn't think about how to check if she was pregnant. She was supposed to get spayed within the month and before I had a chance to my two furry friends had made babies. The birth of Apple was the first I had ever seen or assisted with. Apple and all of his siblings were beautiful but he immediately caught my eye and heart.

From the first time I held him in my hands, I knew we were going to have a life full of beautiful and unique adventures and we did. I was on the road a lot never being in one place for more than a year. He was always with me. From state to state he would ride with me having his own spot in the back to rest and space on the passenger side when he want to backseat drive. Apple slept in different campgrounds and hotels with me in between each job. He was there for me through several relationships. He was also very helpful with my three children as they came. Kissing their faces and playing with them as they started to grow.

When I finally settled down on the coast he could not have been happier to talk with the neighbor dogs, chase the neighbor's cats, and get attention from the neighborhood kids. Even at a young age, Apple was a very calm and steady type of being. He has always been a good judge of character and very protective over his pack. Walking him around town everybody knows his name and waves at him to say hi not even acknowledging me. Yes, he was that famous in town.

One year he started to grow a mass. He was acting normal and it didn't seem to bother him but I had never seen that before. When I looked it up it was a common thing in geriatric dogs to get benign growths. So after reading that I decided to not overreact and try to keep an eye on it. As the months progressed the mass grew and grew. I kept looking for ways to get help to have him operated on. He seemed more tired. I noticed a change in his energy so I started to spend more time with him watching his favorite TV shows at night or reading him a story. I started buying him more toys, treats, and blankets. I started telling him how much I loved him every day and talked to him about how much we had left to explore.

Finally, the humane society got back to me and said that they had found the funds to pay for his surgery and medications. That same day I packed Apple up and headed towards the Veterinarian clinic that would be able to perform the surgery two hours away from me. I kept trying not to cry on the ride down. I was scared they were just going to want to put him down. I was panicked over the idea that they were going to take away one of the biggest parts of my life for over a decade. He just sat there looking at me with his calm and loving eyes with his stoic personality. He grumped and put his head in my lap. He holds a part of me that no one else could. He knew me in a way no one else could understand. How could I go on without him?

When I got there they took him back without me and I waited for a long time. They would come out to ask questions and then go back behind the doors. When the everything the needed they called me to the back. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. I just paced around the room anticipating the worst and hoping for the best.

When the Vet came in she told me that they were going to be able to perform the surgery and that I had come at just the right time. That night I couldn’t sleep. I was worried I would never see my best friend again. I kept crying and then feeling a kind of numbness. They called me in the morning and had told me that he had made the surgery fine and that the mass would be sent off for analysis. When I saw Apple come out of that building with a cone around his head I was so relieved that this beautiful soul was still here to experience life with me. I felt incredibly lucky to be given more time with him.

I was fortunate enough to be spared the loss of Johnny Apple Head but I was afforded a harsh life lesson people experience and forget too easily. You never know how long you have with the people you love. Sometimes we take for granted those around us who love and care for us the most. We are not guaranteed anything in life and nothing lasts forever. I was reminded that I need to tell those around me how much I love them. I need to express how much they mean to me. In this way, I know when I leave this earth or they do that they will have no doubt how much they have meant to me.