Mom Fawn Germer shares the story of Jamarcus:“Someone once told me that you get one dog in life that grabs your heart. I’ve had six. One dog grabbed my soul, and that was Vinny – a.k.a. Jamarcus.
Jamarcus
He found me in 1999, days after I’d bought a brand new car. The car was having trouble starting, so I dropped it off at the dealership and decided to walk home. I was approached by the gnarliest mongrel you ever saw. He was hobbling on three legs. He stunk beyond description. He had millions of fleas, a skin disease and worms. The vet who examined him told me that I should drop him off at the pound. “He’ll cost you so much more than a pure-bred dog,” she said. He was only eight months old and had been living on the streets – a puppy that was forced to survive.
He needed $1300 worth of surgery right off the bat because he had a broken hip and leg. Once I got him healthy, people started telling me how wonderful I was for what I had done for him. But, anything I did for him was nothing – nothing – compared to what he did for me. That sweet boy understood me better than any person I ever met. If I had a bad day, all I had to do was look at him to know I was loved and adored. He was the smartest, funniest, most gregarious guy – part pit bull, part Chow, part Heinz. At some point we started grooming him so he had a Mohawk, which he absolutely loved because that was the first thing anyone touched on him when they petted him. He loved attention.
Two years ago, I came home from vacation to a note from the dogsitter saying it seemed like something wasn’t right with Jamarcus. I took him to the vet and learned that he had a rapidly progressing form of lung cancer. I thought I’d have a few more months, but it was only a couple of weeks before I had to love him enough to let him go peacefully.
My boy had been at my side through two houses, a couple of relationships, a career change, a lightning strike and a lot of really good times. He was at my feet as I wrote four books. I didn’t know how I’d ever fill the void when he left, and I didn’t. But I did get a precious little muffin out of the pit bull rescue who has kept me smiling.
Jamarcus on the Dogedin Mural.
It’s just, I miss my Jamarcus. Every single day. I think about how I would never have found him, had my brand new car started, or had I grabbed a ride home from the dealership. Funny thing was, that car started every single time after that.
It’s like he was sent to me, just for me. I was so lucky.”
In loving memory of Jamarcus.
