Coming home
Text Box: Ulysses (1992- 2003) He is your friend, our partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his leader. He will be yours faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous I first met Ulysses, a very handsome white collie with blue merle markings on a cold, but sunny January day in New Jersey. I had gone to a breeder to see if there was a collie puppy there to be my first dog as an adult. There were four pups there, but Ulysses went out of his way to make sure that he stood out from the pack. Rather than bouncing around like the others, he jumped up put his front legs around my neck and would not let go. From that point on I knew he was the collie for me. It had been well over twenty years since I had a collie so I named Ulysses after the hero of the classic Greek epic poem, “The Odyssey.” In the story, Ulysses spends over twenty years trying to return home after the Trojan war. It seemed like the perfect name for this fine pup. Ulysses was a loyal friend for the ten and half years. He was always the first to greet me when I walked in the door. Even when arthritis started to bother him as he aged he still greeted me and he always had to be in the same room as me. He would always sit without a command when it was time to go for a walk. In fact, all you had to do is pickup the leash and he would sit. He would also shake hands and his favorite trick was to jump up into your lap when I said “Ulysses, hug.” He loved taking trips to North Carolina to visit with my parents over the holidays where he was the center of attention. While here we often took walks on the campus of my alma mater, the University of North Carolina where he attracted a lot of attention. People were struck by his unusual looks and remarked that they had never such a handsome collie or a white collie. Among some of the special moments that I will always treasure about him is chasing my wife’s pet rabbit around the living room. He would gently chase her, but would never harm her, a classic trait of a collie. When we moved to our new house with a large fenced backyard, he proudly lead about ten collies around the perimeter as they discovered their new backyard. At a benefit for the local animal shelter we entered the owner and dog look alike contest. I wore a white dress shirt with a red tie and Ulysses wore a red tie too. We were the run away winners. Perhaps the most special memory of Ulysses was the night that he may have saved my life. Near our home was a sharp curve that people always drove too fast around. I was walking him when a car rapidly approached from behind. Sensing a threat to me, Ulysses jumped up on me pushing me out of the road. He then just sat down and with a big proud expression saying, “Dad, did I do good.” While I am not sure if was really a threat to me or not the fact that he saw as one made me believe that all of those Lassie stories could be true. It still gives me goose bumps today thinking about this. Thank you for picking me out on that cold winter day, being a faithful friend, companion and protector. I will miss seeing you in all of your favorite spots, by the air conditioner intake vent, near the exercise equipment while I was working out, sleeping next to the sofa in the living room and right by beside table where you slept every night. Godspeed, my old friend, Ulysses PS – While putting together this web page, I turned on the classic rock radio station and the song I selected, James Taylor’s classic hit “Carolina on My Mind” was playing. It is almost like Ulysses was sending me a sign to thank me and let me know everything was OK.