Tristan

For our Tristan:

Tristan was a very special dog. Stephen received him as a rescue dog from his parents for his 21st birthday in college. The rescue organization named him "Tristan" after Brad Pitt's character in Legends of the Fall. (because he was so handsome and a ladies man) When we were first married, he was extremely jealous of me. I took away Stephen's attention and his spot in the bed! I'll never forget how he tour up an entire box of Raisin Bran cereal, carrying it around the house and spreading cereal in every nook and cranny. He grew up with us as we matured from college students to newly weds. He was our "first child" of a sort and appeared on the front cover of our first family Christmas letter. He moved with us to Atlanta into our first rental house, woke up with us on the first day of our first jobs (always in our room, in his chair), up graded to a bigger back yard and fence as we became home owners, was there to welcome home our first baby, Adler, -guarded over him while he explored the back yard, laid outside his door during naps, accompanied me on many walks (always with too many pit stops), was the first to clean up the floor when Adler dropped something or sneak something out of Adler's hand when I wasn't looking, became the "man of the house" when Stephen was out of town and always made me feel protected, entertained Adler when I didn't have the energy during my second pregnancy, welcomed home Eli-this time with less curiosity and more purpose-he knew he had an important role in the house! He was a sneaky dog, and would get up on the counter and pull whatever he could to the floor. There were cookies, brownies, boiled chicken for chicken salad, and even the Thanksgiving pork tenderloin that fell into Tristan's paws. Although I complained about his dog hair, he was a constant presence, source of love and gentleness to our boys and friends' children, and the loyalest of loyal dogs. Our family and friends were so sad to have to say good bye to him. He was the kind of dog you always hope to have, (minus the fact he hated to play fetch) and will always be a loved member of our family! We miss you, T-Money!