Sam Sun Perez Mattier born April 30, 1997 and died January 1, 2012.
I remember the day I saw Sam. He was born in a litter of 6 puppies 3 boys and 3 girls. His mother was a young Golden Retriever named Penny. She was a very friendly dog, she just allowed people to see her puppies. In fact, she was so young that her owners had to take her 3 blue toy balls away so that she would feed them. I think she got knocked up by accident because she was only 8 months at the time.
At that particular time in my life, I really wanted a male dog to train who would follow me everywhere and that is what I found.
I saw Sam for the first time at 4 weeks old and I brought him home at 6 weeks. That first night was rough on both of us. Up every two hours to go potty, he cried all night long, and finally ended up sleeping with me in my bed, which he did until the day he could no longer jump on the bed.
Sam was a very well know and loved dog. Losing him was heartbreaking for me, but it also gave me time to think about all the people who knew my dog. I was 19 when Sam came to live with me and at the time my bestfriends were Jessica, Kellie, Shauna, and Johanna. Each one of these wonderful ladies who I have reconnected with on facebook played an important role in Sam's life. Jessica would rile him up, he got stuck under the bed for both Kellie and Shauna, and he went to track practice with Johanna and I. In my twenties he came to live with Jason, Nancy, and I for at least two years. He would sleep in Nancy's room right beside her bed. During that time he met Kimberly, Dave, Brad, Kelly, and Olivia. He was even in our wedding.
He was also loved by all of my parents, cousins, brother, and extended family.
He survived many jobs with us as well. He was with me when I worked for the City of Salinas, with my Clubhouse Family, and even with my current job of Teaching. With Jason, he was a supportor of flying airplanes, late night greets from bartending, a quick leap through paramedic school, and now a firefighter.
During his lifetime he traveled many places. He loved to hike and camp in South Lake Tahoe. He loved going to the beaches, parks, on airplane rides, and swimming in lakes.
When I met Jason, it wasn't love at first sight, since at the time he was the only man in my life, but after a meeting or two he warmed up to his daddy. Jason and Sam had a special bond. Jason took really good care of Sam, washing him, giving him his meds, walking him, and spending time with him. Especially when the kiddos came along. It was just as hard on Jason to lose Sam as it was on me.
Having the kids was no picnic for Sam. He still was loved, but the attention time was a challenge. Jason made up for the time as much as he could.
His finally months were ok. We could tell that something wasn't right because he started to do really odd things. His memory began to go, he had trouble breathing at night, he would wet the floor, he walked much slower, and he was spacey most of the time. Putting an animal to sleep is one of the hardests things to do. Sam would have stayed because he loved us so much but it reallly was time for him to go. His body was just failing him. 14 years is a long time to live for a Golden Retriever. We miss Sam on a daily basis, but we aren't ready for another dog, maybe in a few years.
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