When Vita came into Thom’s life, he was still in his forties.
He and Joe adopted her from the North Shore Animal League.
They thought she was a beagle, like Bugsy, their previous pooch. Thom never had a dog before Bugsy. He insisted he didn’t like them.
Vita grew long and tall, like a German short-haired pointer crossed with Lucille Ball. And just as rambunctious. On an early visit to the Pines, she chewed up Steven’s designer glasses. “They looked tasty,” said her haughty expression.
No dog ever begged more insistently than Vita. But blame Thom for that. He fed her chips constantly.
No dog ever tugged harder on her leash than Vita. She gave your upper body a workout whenever you walked her. Florian quickly figured out that a long run on the beach was the only way to tame her.
No dog ever escaped confinement more cleverly than Vita. When Audrey and I left for a walk on the beach, she used the bulkhead to get around the fence and came galloping after us.
Vita introduced “mushy face” into our Pines house lexicon. It made her look just like a Games of Thrones dragon and meant “Get the fuck away from me. Now.”
Vita did NOT frequent dog parks or encourage canine drop-bys. Like Downtown Abbey, we observed an “Upstairs/Downstairs” policy when it came to other housemates’ dogs, although she grudgingly tolerated Arko in her dotage.
Vita always rode shotgun in Thom’s luxury convertibles. He loved how people stared at them. She didn’t give a shit which made her even beautiful.
So beautiful that strangers took her picture. You see millions of dogs on Instagram, but how many people post shots of strangers’ dogs?
Vita made a BIG impression. Just ask anybody who rode the ferry with her.
Thom clutched her for as long as he could. Literally. She was his life raft.
May she rest in peace. In a place eternally stocked with chips.
This is so nice Jeff. Thanks for so outlining her history with Thom and Joe so well. I especially liked the last caption--I'm sure she's having her salty fill.
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