We have a Jack Russell terrier named Chewbacca. My husband and I are big Star Wars fans. In fact, that’s kind of how we met. Our mutual love for all the movies is what got us to talking and after about two or three hours of telling each other our best-loved scenes and dissecting all of the characters, we realized we shared the same favorite character, Chewie.

Next thing you know we were married and living in a four floor walk up. For our first wedding anniversary, he got me the cutest little fluffball you’d ever seen. The minute I saw him I knew we had to name him Chewbacca. After all, he was pretty instrumental in bringing us together. So that was going to be his name.

When the children arrived, Chewbacca was very protective of them both. Although when we first brought Michael home, Chewbacca wasn’t all that sure about him. He barked a lot. Our little guy was the center of attention and now he had competition. He was like a furry, four-legged first child who didn’t want some newbie muscling in on his turf. But things worked out pretty well, Chewbacca used to look in on Michael  a lot when he was a baby. He became very protective of him and the two of them grew to become friends.

Then Samantha came home. Chewbacca was a great dog with her as well but even more so with Michael, because our oldest boy wasn’t all that keen on his younger sister taking center stage as infants naturally do. But it was so sweet, it was like Chewbacca knew what Michael was going through because he had gone through it himself. I know that sounds a little strange, but it really was true. There was just something about the way the dog and our son bonded even more. Michael wanted to be the only child in the house and when he wasn’t, he would act out. Chewbacca would always want to play with him, almost as if to tell him that Michael was still his best buddy even if he may have felt some neglect from his parents who would dote on the new baby continuously. Obviously, we never neglected one child over another but we were new parents of a second child and dividing our time was a challenge at first.

Now the kids both love Chewbacca and we would all be heartbroken without him around. He’s always the first to greet them when they come home and the three are inseparable. The dog is always playing with them and lying by one of their feet in bed in the morning.

Well, our boy Chewbacca is sick. He got some kind of infection in his teeth and he’s become very ill. We’ve been to two or three vets but none of them had been able to determine the cause until now. Unfortunately, they’ve had to remove some of his teeth. It’s been a traumatic experience for all of us, but this veterinarian, a specialist in dogs of this breed, has said that he thinks Chewbacca is going to pull through and that they’ve stopped the spread of the infection. He has no idea where our little guy picked this bug up from, but it’s been causing him and our family a lot of pain and stress. Hopefully the hard part is finally over. We’re in a wait and see position right now. So fingers crossed. I’ve had to take extra care with him, especially his food. I’ve been blending his dog food to make it easier to eat for him. I did some research at Mrs. FoodPrep and bought a special food processor that can handle all kinds of different types of food and break them down enough for our Chewbacca to eat it without needing his teeth.

So I just started reminiscing about our time with him. I certainly don’t want it to be shortened. He is getting up there in years, and he’s not as spry as he once was, but he certainly shouldn’t be leaving us this soon. We love this dog very much, he’s a member of the family and losing him would represent a significant void in all of our lives. But I have hope and faith that everything will end up okay.

We love you boy. You’re going to get through this and you’ll be home before you know it. Chewing on your favorite toy, Mr. Picklepott.