Flashback Friday - Boo to Boot Camp

As I'm writing today's flashback, Flannigan is nuzzling his wet nose under my elbow.  Even after a year of being with Flannigan, I still call him Fred by mistake.  I have to stop doing that.  

And then there's Boo.  Or Kookookashmoo.  But I should stop using those names too.  After all, the cute little boy in this picture isn't a little boy anymore.  Brandon is a grown man now and only a couple of days away from shipping off to Army boot camp.  We're all so proud that he's chosen to serve his country like his uncles and grandfather.

And Brandon, we all know you'll serve well.  You might have other things on your mind right now.  Who wouldn't?  But I know that you'll be focused, determined and strong at boot camp.  In other words, it's your turn to show that TCD - Total Cruz Domination.  Go get em Boo!  I mean, Brandon!

The Fred Paintings

Losing our dog Fred was tough for the entire family.  Our niece, Jena took it pretty hard too.  Her family was taking care of Fred in Suffolk, Virginia while we were doing our thing in Korea.  CJ and Jena have always been pretty tight.  They are both extremely bright and have similar interests in art, writing and other stuff.  Sometimes they'll get on the phone and just talk for hours.

As a form of therapy over losing our pet of 16 years, CJ created this painting tribute to Fred:

Little did we know, Jena created her own Fred masterpiece at the same time.  There was no prior coordination on this.  I guess the two cousins had the same thing weighing heavy on their hearts.  Here's Jena's artwork:

We found out about their artwork during a Skype video call.  First, CJ brought his Fred painting up to the webcam to show them what he had been working so hard on in Art club.  The reaction was of astonishment.  In a few seconds, I found out why.  Jena ran off to grab her painting.  When we saw her art via the wonderful invention of Skype, we all smiled and began to tear up.  It was a touching moment.  We miss you Fred.

Fred

It was a sad week in the Cruz household. Our dog Fred fought the good fight but went to sleep for the last time on the 19th of December. He lived to the ripe old age of 15 years and 7 months. We were very fortunate to have him that long. It's kind of a tough thing to talk about for those that aren't dog lovers. How can you explain that special bond if you haven't experienced it yourself? Fred really was a best friend to our entire family. He was our first child and CJ's watcher and big brother for many years.

We wish we could've taken him to Korea with us. Had we known his health would deteriorate like it did this past year, we would've done just that. We were extremely fortunate to have my brother Alan, his wife Danita and their kids, Joel and Jena take such great care of Fred in Virginia during our absence. Little did we know how difficult this undertaking would be.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Fred. We got him from an animal shelter in San Diego shortly after Carol and I were married. I usually favor large dogs but our landlord at the time said he would allow us to get a small or medium dog. So off to the pet shops and animal shelters we went. I would visit the local animal shelters at least twice a week in search for our future pet. On a repeat visit to one of the shelters, I saw that almost all of the cages were empty and had red plastic roses on them. I asked them about all the dogs that were there just a few days ago and about the roses but already knew what the answer was. Because of space, they had to periodically euthanize all of the animals. It was then and there that Carol and I decided that we were not going to buy a dog from a pet store. The right thing to do was to save a dog from a shelter.

So one day at a shelter in Chula Vista, Carol and I see a little white dog with a brown head. Carol thought he was an old dog. I thought, woman, are you crazy? That's obviously a puppy. They told us that this dog was found at a school playing with a bunch of children. We put our names down to adopt this nameless white dog. Unfortunately, two other people had beaten us to the punch. I decided to push the issue. The shelter folks said that the two people who had dibs on this white dog each had a 30 minute block to claim the dog. If they didn't show up during their time blocks, they forfeited their rights to the dog and the next person would have a turn. We got our time slots as the third people in line and hoped for the best.

The day finally came to pick up the little white dog. Or at least try. I went to the shelter bright and early. Well, the first 30 minute block came and went. The first person was a no-show. Oh man, I just might have a shot here. The second person in line actually called the shelter and said they wanted the dog but that they might be late. Long story short, their time block elapsed too. Fred was now ours! So that's how the little guy entered our lives.

Here's Fred with his shelter tag still on. We named him Fred because he looked like a Fred. This kinda complicated things when my Dad would visit because his name is also Fred. We didn't want to insult my Dad with the same name thing so we came up with the bright idea to call Fred "Red" when my Dad was around. The gig was up when Dad started to answer to "Red" too.



Here he is less than a year old in San Diego.  Fred is a Jack Russell Terrier and Corgi mix.  Smart as a whip and full of energy.  Jack Rusells have apple shaped heads and Corgis have barrel chests.  Fred ended up with both.



This is from Fred's first birthday party. Carol and Fred stayed at Martin and Amy's house in Alabama during my first deployment. This is where we discovered that Fred was an escape artist, hence the name, Freddy Dufresne Cruz, after the main character in Shawshank Redemption. There was a fenced area outdoors that Fred would climb over like a monkey. Despite those short appendages, there weren't too many places that he couldn't escape from. Even after escaping, he wouldn't go very far. I guess he just liked his freedom.



Here's his birthday "cake" made of ground beef. Meat cakes are probably one of the reasons why he never went very far after escaping from the pen. Like I said, he was a smart dog.

Okay. So now you're probably thinking we're some of those crazy dog people. You're probably right.

This was our first house in Jacksonville, Florida. Fred loved this place because of the nice walks, a big yard and the enclosed sunroom that he spent most of his time in. If you look real close, you can see Fred's apple head near the bottom of the door.

This is the house where he would terrorize the mailman on a daily basis. As he saw the mailman approaching the house, evil growls would churn in Fred's throat and hairs would stand straight up on his back and neck as he worked himself into a crazy frenzy. Finally, as the mailman would attempt to carefully shove our mail through our slot in the door without getting a finger bitten off, Fred would go totally ballistic - loud, scary barking, eyes black as the inside of a basketball and teeth chomping like the shark from Jaws snacking on Robert Shaw. As soon as the mail would enter the house, Fred would grab it with his teeth, fling it around with his head and on many occasions, totally destroy our mail. Every now and then, he would fling the mail around so bad that it would fall behind the furniture in the room, only to be discovered months later. I once missed a jury summons because of this madness. Fred also bit through multiple credit cards that were sent through the mail to the point where we would have to request more credit cards. Try explaining that to Visa without them thinking you're doing some kind of scam. The mail thing was nuts. He'd also get so worked up because of the mailman that during his frenzies, he'd lose all bodily control and squirt out a little Hershey's kiss. It was terrible. I think he really enjoyed that visceral madness though. It was just Fred exercising his doggie rights. Man, he loved hanging out in that sunroom.

Fred was a great companion and guard dog for Carol when I was out at sea.

Fred hanging out with my nephew Joel in Virginia.

And then CJ came along. Fred was so good with him. When Fred couldn't see CJ, he would wander around the house sniffing and sniffing until he found him. I think he was worried about the baby. Little did Fred know that it wouldn't be too long before he'd be physically tormented by toddler CJ. He was always so patient though. I remember seeing CJ with his finger up Fred's... well, somewhere it didn't belong. Fred remained calm and just gave me that "please remove" look. I was reminded of my annual flight physical.

I think Fred wants his rawhide back.

A very happy homecoming after one of my long deployments.

As Fred got older, he would push the limits.  In this case, he knew he wasn't supposed to be up on the furniture but he loved to look outside the window so much, kinda like in the Florida house.  One day after I left the house, I had to return because I forgot something.  Fred was caught red-handed on the couch.  He knew he had done wrong.  This is his "busted" look.

Being a Navy dog, Fred's lived in many different environments and extremes. Here he is in the snow of Newport, Rhode Island.





Chilling with the boys in Miami.  The swimming pool was like a giant water bowl for Fred.  He loved to chase the ducks back there.

Here he is wearing the cone of shame after having bladder surgery. He's been through a lot over the years. Back surgery, bladder surgery, a torn ACL (I didn't even know dogs had ACLs), a scratched cornea after a cat fight, been pepper sprayed by a mailman, severe heart problems and we think he had an altercation with a burglar(s) that broke into our house. Even after all of that stuff though, he kept on fighting.

He wasn't happy about all the medicine he had to take.

He also loved the deck area of our place on Talbot Avenue in Jacksonville.  He was king of the hill of our backyard.

I think one of Fred's favorite things was heartbeats. He just loved to be around people. That's Jena, CJ and Joel on a tractor ride in Virginia.

Bliss! Fred really enjoyed this bed but liked his "love pillow" even better. Yup, Fred was fixed early on but still had the doggie urges. Every now and then, he would drag his pillow into the living room and start going to town. It was worse than Cinemax after dark. I swear he would do the foreplay thing first, licking the corner of the pillow tenderly before humping it across the room. It was rather impressive I must say. Sometimes he would even get airborne. Even after he was done, his little hips would have remnant humping actions as he would walk away from the pillow. Man, I'd hate to see how things would be if he wasn't fixed.

A short year later, he's basking in the heat of Miami, Florida. Fred has made many cross country road trips. As you know, not all hotels are good with pets staying the night. On one particular cross country move, we were trying to keep Fred as quiet as possible in the hotel room so that we wouldn't get kicked out. He kept us up all night though with his barking. Every little noise that he heard outside, he'd do his guard dog routine. It was a sleepless night. Fortunately, we didn't get kicked out of the hotel room. The next day, Fred can't stay awake in the car because he was up all night barking. To get our revenge, Carol and I would wait for him to doze off then bark as loud as we could in his ear. Yes, juvenile but very pleasurable.

We were reunited with Fred this summer, at least for a little while. Here's Carol and Fred's tearful reunion at my brother's house in Virginia.

This was one of our last experiences with Fred. We took him with us to Leenie's lake house in Alabama. I think he had a really good time.

My niece Jena drew this picture recently. It's Fred dreaming of all the happy things he likes to do. Thank you Jena.

For those that are thinking about getting a dog or cat, here's one very peculiar thing that you need to think about. It's going to end badly. I mean, think about it. That's reality. Unless something tragic happens, we will most likely outlive our pets. We go into the relationship knowing this. There we are at the animal shelter thinking about how cute the little puppy is. We're not at the pet store cause we all know that we should save an animal first, right? But we go into this pet thing knowing we'll have to bury that lovable creature 5, 10, or 15 years down the road. And you know what? It's okay. It's totally okay. I swear Fred taught me how to be a kinder, more loving person. He helped me to relieve all of those work stresses by a simple pat of his head, a lick on my face or a fetching of a ball. He taught my family about unconditional love - the kind of love with no strings, no matter what happens. Where else does that kind of love exist except from God?

Maybe logic says this pet thing might be something to avoid because of the potential heartache at the end. But heck, we could say that about people too right? Friends move on, grandparents pass away and yet we continue to love them. We shouldn't live a life of avoidance. I'm thinking that when we get back to the US, we're visiting the animal shelters again.

I'll end this tribute now by posting this email that I recently sent to my family after Fred's passing. Thanks for taking this journey with me. We miss you Fred. Until next time -- C2


Dear Alan, Danita, Joel and Jena,

This is a difficult email to write. Alan, I'm guessing that you had the same troubles. Carol said that I would know what to write. I think she was wrong. All I know right now is that you all have been a true blessing from God to have taken such great care of Fred. For the heart wrenching day that was today. For the vet visits, the cleanups, the difficult feedings, the pills - everything. We will never be able to repay you for what you've done for us and what you've done for Fred. Thank you Alan for being such a great brother to me. Danita, I know you're not a dog person which made this extreme imposition even more extreme. Joel and Jena - I know you were both a huge part of Fred's happiness in the later stages of his life. I thank all of you for loving him.

As you can imagine, CJ took the news pretty hard when we spoke to him earlier today. I must now do what I told CJ to do - focus on the many great memories of Fred rather than his weakened state of his last couple of months. Memories like the furry guy scarfing an entire loaf of banana bread. Him terrorizing the mailman on a daily basis to the point where he would lose control of some of his bodily functions and squirt out a Hershey's kiss every now and then. Fred up on his tippy toes giving baby CJ soft licks on his newborn face. Fred humping his pillow in the living room like there was no tomorrow. And maybe the most special memory for me was he and I doing sprints when he was a young pup. Even with those teeny tiny legs, he would beat me in a race. Not every time but some of the time. During those races, I'll never forget him flying like the wind - ears pinned back, tongue flapping in the wind and legs like little cyclone blurs. That's the Fred I choose to remember. Kinda like Jena depicted in her recent masterpiece. Thank you Jena for the great picture.

I'll close now by saying that our hearts will be heavy for awhile, but I take comfort in two things. One, the great care and love he received from you guys. And two, the fact that any Heaven that I picture in my mind most definitely has Fred in it. Doing what you might ask? Well, running wild and free in a lush green field, ears pinned back, tongue flapping in the wind and legs like little cyclone blurs of course. It'll be a great day when I can race with my friend again.

Love,

Chris

Fred Dufresne Cruz

Memorial Day 1994 - December 19, 2009

Ramblings at 4 in the Morning

Not that you asked, but here is a short diatribe of random thoughts from a sleepless little brown man in Korea:

- I'm disappointed in seeing some of my military friends on Facebook talking so negatively about President Obama in their status updates and comments. Not because it's President Obama but rather because I think the military needs to support the President regardless of political party or personal preference. Military members take an oath that says we will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over us. Yes, obeying orders and supporting the President are two different things, but when military members publicly bad-mouth the President in an open forum like Facebook, in my opinion, this is wrong. Consider the fact that there are strict rules for the military on campaigning for a President they support. Bottom line for me is that as a military man, no one should even be able to tell who I voted for. They just need to know that I will wholeheartedly support whoever the President may be and unflinchingly follow any orders from the President or any of my superiors. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

- It's the big Pier 8 Christmas Party tonight. Lots of hard work went into this event. Really looking forward to it. I'm so glad Paul and Shiela are able to sing for us tonight. They are the singers from the Westin Chosun Hotel at Haeundae Beach. It would really be a different event without them. It's gonna be an awesome night!

Here's a picture from last year's Christmas Party. This is the leadership from the Republic of Korea Port Operations Group Team (ROKPOG), 837 Transportation Battalion and MSCO Korea .

- Time for the birds and bees talk with CJ. I never had that talk with my Mom and Dad. You can imagine my surprise when the first hair popped up in my nether regions. Sheesh.

- I miss flying.

Getting ready to launch off the aircraft carrier on catapult 4.

Coming back from a good flight.

- I could've spent an extra week in Thailand and it wouldn't have been enough. Phuket was fantastic. Will post some pictures soon.

- Still working the next set of orders. We contemplated going overseas again but decided against it for a number of reasons. One being the poor health of our other family member back home, Fred, our 15 year old furry friend. Here is a short tribute to our great dog Fred that I taped last week in Thailand:

- My change of command is scheduled for 30 June 2010. I've got less than 7 months to go here in Korea. We are really going to miss Busan. What an incredible tour this has been so far. Well, better get back to bed or work. One or the other. Until next time -- C2

Summer Vacation Part 3

So the theme of this blog entry is HOPE.

After hitting south Florida for a few days, we were back in Alabama with Carol's family to finish off our vacation. We visited with family and friends, hit the Alabama Adventure water park in Bessemer, celebrated CJ's 11th birthday, went to a fish fry at Martin and Amy's house and had an awesome time at cousin Leenie's Lake House.

This was while we were picking blueberries. HOPE springs eternal!

There's nothing hotter than a beautiful southern belle driving a big old pickup truck. Uncle Sammy let us use his truck while my car was in the shop.

CJ was HOPING to hit Cracker Barrel on his birthday. We easily acquiesced to his request. We hit Toys R Us, saw the new Harry Potter movie and celebrated with the Alabama cousins. It was a good day.

I like hanging out with cousins too. Here I am surrounded by Carol and her cousins Angela and Diane. Why am I thinking of HOPE chests?

CJ lost a bet with his cousins and had to dress up like a girl. CJ was HOPING I wouldn't post this picture. Darn.

Speaking of girls, CJ does not look forward to getting tormented by some of the younger girl cousins. In the past, Amanda, Madison and Sarah have given CJ a hard time - you know, boys are yucky chants, chasing him around, etc. According to CJ, things were a lot smoother with the girls this year at the family fish fry.

Carol's brother, Martin and his wife Amy hosted a family fish fry. It's become a nice Harmon family tradition. Here's Amy holding a new Jack Russell Terrier puppy. CJ said that dog is so cute, it's ridiculous. He reminded us of Fred as a puppy. Amy, thank you so much for the great food and hospitality. You and Martin are always great hosts! Some of you out there know about the Texas Margarita. We've got Martin and Amy to thank for that awesome yet simple recipe.

Some of the Harmon family at the fish fry.

Carol and her sisters, Julie and Martha. Julie is the proud owner of Loco, the ridiculously cute puppy. Despite being half a world away, through Carol's influence, Martha is now addicted to kim chi.

The Forsyth and Cruz kids.

Uncle Sammy is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your life. He's so great with the boys. I always enjoy fishing with Uncle Sammy. We always HOPE to catch a lot of fish, but even if we don't, the company is always great.

This is Uncle Sammy's famous bucket of change. The kids always HOPE he breaks out the bucket for them. The way it works is whatever change you can scoop up with your two hands is yours to keep. It's a treasure chest for the little ones.

Heather and Carol have been friends for a long time. Our families got together for dinner one night. Heather has always had a kind heart. She is currently helping to gather new and used baby and kids' clothes for the orphanage that Carol and I volunteer at. Thank you so much Heather! BTW, if you know of anyone that doesn't need their kid clothes any more (newborn up to age 6) please let me know. Our orphanage can definitely use the clothes. I'm really HOPING that some of you can help with this one. Contact me and we'll set something up.

Chilling with the boys on the lake behind Uncle Sammy and Ruth's place. I caught 9 largemouth bass here one morning. It was awesome!

Ah, the lake house! Carol's cousin, Leenie and her husband own this lake house on Lake Martin. Leenie invited the cousins over to the house for some fun on the water. Fishing, boating, waverunners, tubing, eating and just hanging out with family - it was a spectacular time.

Leenie and Carol. Thanks again Leenie for everything! Leenie runs the Spirit of HOPE Youth Ranch, a great non-profit organization that helps restore HOPE to children that are not in the best situations. Check out the site at www.sohyr.org. You can also check them out on Facebook.

Martin brought his bass boat down to the lake house. Martin, Marty and I got a couple of hours of fishing in that morning.

Got this one on a topwater plug.

Another one on a crankbait.

Carol and Angela are ecstatic after a successful tubing excursion - successful cause they didn't get flung off that thing at high speed.

Here's CJ after tubing solo with Uncle Marty. CJ couldn't get enough of tubing so I took him and his cousin Josh out for one final run together. They both fell off a couple times and went skidding across the water like they were rocks being skipped. I wish I could've taped them. The looks on their faces as they were bouncing up and down on the waves was priceless. They said it was better than any amusement park rides they've ever been on.

Martin's boat goes pretty fast. Hey, gotta get to the fishing spot first.

Chilling on the pontoon boat.

Carol's brother Martin is driving. Sam is on the right. Russell is in the middle while his fiance is at the front of the boat. The reason Russell is not sitting next to his fiance is cause he took her on a crazy ride on the waverunner and scared her silly. She was mad as a hornet.

Don't ask me what Jake is doing.

Totally wiped out after a memorable time at the lake house.

One last picture that I'll close on. It really seemed like Fred was suffering and on his last legs - severe coughing all night long, passing out, getting sick and just barely moving. It was terrible. We were really praying and HOPING for him to get better. Well, after seeing the cardiologist and getting the new medication, Fred is doing great! Here he is having a great time at the lake house. That made my vacation. He was even trying to get amorous with the other dog at the lake house. It was good to see him so happy.

A very sincere thanks to all the Virginia, Florida and Alabama family and friends that helped make this vacation so great. One year down in Korea and less than a year to go. I know it's gonna fly by. HOPE you have a great day. Until next time -- C2