Sean's Best Friend

Murphy, Murphy, Murphy! Yes, it is not doubt that Murphy was Sean's true best friend. I tired for year after year to persuade him that we did not need a dog, because I just did not have the time a puppy/dog required . . . and that he worked long hours if he was even home at all. We were making a visit to the Super PX in Wurzberg when I decided I needed to pay Kathe Wolfart a little visit so Sean tagged along. He was at the cash register for a long time and as we left I would discover why. Someone had put an ad in there about lab puppies so he took the number. A week later I noticed it on the computer desk and quickly threw it away (I know that is evil) but Sean somehow found out the number. He called to go look at the puppies so I agreed to go visit . . . bad mistake. . . never go look at puppies because they are so cute and you will not be able to say NO! So, we reserved the only yellow one . . . I did not think Sean was going to leave but he finally did . . .

Next became the struggle to name this new addition . . . I mean it took weeks! We picked up the dog in mid-August of 2001 and had a list of names a mile long! Any name that could be used for a kid was marked off first. Sean finally narrowed it down to ten and would "practice" calling his dog . . . he said the name needed to end with a vowel sound so he could be stern when he was training him . . . are you laughing yet? Sean was a super huge fan of the X-Files so just about all the character names were on the dog name list as well as some good Irish sounding names. I liked Hank but he said, "Hank, I don't think so!" So as we pulled out of the driveway with puppy in my lap, he still did not have a name . . . by the time we got to Nurnberg we decided he was a Murphy . . . at that point all I knew was this baby had been crying for an hour . . . what had I gotten myself into?

Murphy quickly adjusted into our lives but as you can see he had a favorite parent. He loved to destroy just about anything I owned or cared for especially my vegetable and flower garden. I had come home from OBI with some potting soil . . . went inside to get garden clothes on to find this . . .
. . . he knew he was in trouble and would not even look at me. The ladies at the cemetery were standing at the gate laughing so hard. No matter what Murphy and Sean always loved each other and that got on my nerves. He treated Murphy like he was a human which was a little over the top to me.

While I too loved Murphy he became a protector and a great sense of security when Sean was deployed. Granted he was a huge responsibility and after Colin was born he became too much for me. The Sims family offered to take care of Murphy until we PCSed back to the US after the Iraq deployment. Of course Sean and I agreed this was the best place for Murphy . . . so Murphy got "orders" to be ARODed (advance return of dependents) back to Texas. It became a joke and so many laughed about it and I admit it was pretty funny. Of course, our lives changed and he never got to live with Sean again but he did see him on his R&R . . .

Murphy still lives in McKinney with the Sims family. I hope someday he can come live with us but not sure if they are willing to turn him over. He meant so much to Sean and has a special place in their hearts for him. Every time we go visit, Murphy meets us at the door and goes crazy. I always wonder if he is looking for Sean and it breaks my heart.