Pooh Bear (Barney)

I met Barney when I met David. The first time that I walked into David's apartment Barney greeted me as if he had been waiting for me all his life. But it was the other way around: I had been waiting for both all my life.

Although raised in Manhattan and most often walked on the city's sidewalks and dog runs, Barney was the quintessential Labrador dog: swimmer, diver, retriever. He loved being in the water, no matter the temperature, having something to retrieve back to shore. He more than once was allowed (by me, illegally) to dive into Central Park's lakes to retrieve toys, baseball caps, frisbees, anything people would accidentally drop. He was your most trusted lifeguard.

In the last couple years of his life, when his hips started to get weak, and movement difficult, we decided to spend all our holidays locally, so that he could come with us in the car. We drove out of town as much as possible to get him to swim, walk and breathe fresh air.

Barney passed away at 2.26pm on Friday December 18th 2015 surrounded by people who loved him. As his velvety muzzle leaned to rest on my hand holding his paw, he peacefully fell asleep wrapped in David’s embrace.

His ashes were spread in a fresh water stream on a mountain upstate New York where we all loved to hiked to.

He was so beautiful, my Pooh Bear.