Man's Best Friend

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Kaycie. Kaycie was born 6 years after the previous child so because of that age gap, Heavenly Father knew she would need a companion when her older sisters had to go to school or had to go do "older" things like such sisters do. So at the ripe old age of 2, a 4th sister was brought in to the mix. A precious, adorable, pure bred, golden retriever puppy. Because of the family business she was named Matey. Ahoy. It was love at first sight for Kaycie and Matey. Maybe because they were both so small. Maybe because they both had golden hair. Maybe because they got along well. Whatever it was...they were destined to be best friends since the first day she was brought in to the Maurer household.


From then on Kaycie and Matey did everything together. Wherever Kaycie was, Matey was and vice versa. They played house together. They read books together. They ate the cat's food together. [it's true.] And they slept together because Kaycie had really cool parents who let the dog in the bed.


Since Kaycie was homeschooled from Kindergarten until 3rd grade, they were still able to spend lots of time together at home. Kaycie couldn't really use the excuse "my dog ate my homework" to the teacher cause A] the teacher was her mother and B] Matey didn't care for paper...unless there was candy or chocolate underneath. Like the one time Kaycie left her HUGE Halloween candy bag next to the couch when the family went to church and when they came back there were colorful wrappers all over the house and Matey pooped a variety of colors for a week. That statement "chocolate kills dogs" is not true.


There was also a time when Kaycie decided to cut Matey's hair. What had actually happened was Kaycie fell asleep laying on Matey's stomach with gum in her mouth. Kaycie had done that once before and got gum in her own hair. Her mother told her to never again fall asleep with gum, and since she had, she was too scared to tell her mom. So Kaycie took matters in to her own hands and played hairdresser. It did not turn out well. Mama Maurer was not happy, but at least she never knew about the gum...maybe. Until now.


Matey was always a happy dog. Always. Unless she saw another dog. Then all bets were off. She hated other dogs. She loved all humans. The family joke was: "If a robber came in the middle of the night, we would never know...unless he brought a dog with him." All jokes aside though, Matey was very protective of the family. Even when she thought other family members were threatening. Karly would play "superman" with Kaycie and lift her up on her feet. Kaycie would scream and laugh and scream, but sometimes Matey thought Karly was hurting Kaycie and would get very upset.


One thing that set Matey apart was her lack of brains. Not that she was stupid...but she was not your average dog. She flunked obedience school. Not just got a bad grade, but she completely failed out. When it was time for "stay", all the other dogs stayed in their spot while Matey happily bounded towards Mama Maurer. She was not one to be left behind. She hated when the family went anywhere and did not take her. Which is why she got brought to Grandma and Granddad's almost every Sunday for family dinner. She would stick her head out of the window on the 15 min drive and let her tongue flap in the wind. The guard at the neighborhood had treats for her and everyone loved her. Everyone.


Matey was not much of a retriever either. We're not quite sure where that "pure bred" blood went. We'd throw the ball and she would bring it back acting like she wanted to give it to you, but no. Just as you'd reach for it she would run away with a smile on her face. It'd take forever to get the tennis ball or squeaky newspaper [her favorite toys] to throw it again. It mostly became a game of "keep away" and running. Which was fine. The Maurer family was used to it. Another one of Matey's favorite games was going in circles, around and around the coffee table with Daddy. She would either run right behind him or run in opposite ways to sneak past him so he couldn't grab her squeaky. It was always quite the entertainment for the rest of the family. Matey was also famous for putting multiple tennis balls in her mouth at one time. The most she got in at one time was 4. One in very back, 2 in the cheeks, and one in the very front. Then she would bark. Obviously muffled, it always brought the family down in belly laughs. This is not Matey, but it looked something like this:


There are too many stories to tell about Miss Matey Maurer. She was the best dog in the world and she happened to stumble upon the right family that needed her in their lives. When Kaycie was a Junior in high school and 17 years old, Matey died. Matey almost passed away a few times in previous years, but she kept fighting because she loved her family too much to go. When she finally left this earth she was 15 years old and in her best friend's arms. Kaycie cried for weeks...and sometimes still cries today.


Dear Matey, I miss you. I miss you lots. It's been almost 6 years since you died, but it still makes me sad to think about you being gone. I miss you sneezing on me. I miss hearing you drink out of the toilet. I miss eating bologna and mustard with you. I miss the click of her nails on the wood floor. I miss rubbing the super soft hair behind your ears. I miss taking you on walks...or rather you taking me on walks. I miss you hogging the entire backseat in the car. I miss sharing popsicles with you. I miss laying on your tummy while I read. I miss jumping on the trampoline with you. I miss hitting you with the front door when we came home since you were always right there waiting. I miss watching your face when we fed you bananas, grapes, or lettuce. I miss you laying right in the middle of the hallway so you could see the bedroom doors of all family members in the night. I miss your bark and I miss your cry. I miss your friendship and I miss you just being there. You're the best dog in the world and I'll see you on the other side. I love you Matey.