My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.
– Diodorus Siculus, inscription at the base of the statue of Ramses the Great, Pharaoh of Egypt.
If any want to know how great I am and where I lie,
Let them surpass me in my work.”
I don’t really believe in love at first sight. I still remember the first time I saw him though.
It was summer 2010. He was scrawny, flea-bitten and very weak from an upper respiratory illness. Ramses was a stray picked up off the streets by Cobb County Animal Shelter in Georgia. At the time, older dogs – especially large ones with kennel cough – did not last long at county shelters in the state. That summer was unusually hot and muggy even for the south. Georgia had been going through a housing downturn and it was still reeling from the economic crisis of the late 2000s. Large dogs were being heartlessly abandoned in greater numbers, and county shelters were having difficulty coping with this influx along with dwindling resources.
Cobb County were prepared to euthanize Ramses in two days. If Sandy Adcock from “Our Pal’s Place” in Marietta had not taken him in, his life would have likely ended back in July 2010. But fate had other plans.
When I walked into OPP that first day with my wife Kavita, I locked eyes with this large, striking dog that was in a small kennel by himself. Ramses was chewing on a tennis ball, playfully batting it between his large paws. His matted golden coat was peppered with flecks of black. In certain spots, it was hard to distinguish between the caked-on dirt and his natural coloring. He was devoid of fur in other places, his exposed skin reddened and stressed. I noticed his ribs were sticking out, emaciated from malnutrition. While clenching the ball and gnawing at it, his teeth were eroded and chipped. When his ears stood erect at attention, one of them drooped slightly at the tip.
Ramses’s body read like a roadmap of all the places he had been. There was a story behind each scar, each blemish. But this animal was undaunted and unconquered.
When he saw me, he hopped up on his hind legs and put his front paws on the wall of his kennel. It was an instant recognition. Of what? I don’t know. The soul’s counterpart in another? Perhaps. Whatever it was, the bond was instantaneous. Ramses had all the signs of a survivor… but the way he stood up in that kennel, he was ready to do more than survive. He was ready to live. His ears retracted and he almost seemed to nod as we both approached him.
And then there were those eyes… those bright eyes. In six short years they had already seen so much. Yet they shone with such majesty, such resilience and love. Yes, love.
A creature that had bore witness to some of the most despicable human tendencies – negligence, cruelty, apathy and abandonment – still had eyes that sparkled.
When those eyes met mine and I stroked his regal head, I knew immediately and palpably that we belonged to each other.
“He’s the one.”
You have always been the one, my sweet baby boy. I will never forget your fierce love and loyalty over the past decade. Even as your strong, beautiful body started to break down, your indestructible spirit never did. At almost fifteen and a half, you outlived and outshone all expectations. You left on your own terms, with your dignity and grace intact.
It is never easy when loved ones leave us. But I have discovered that when dogs leave, every nook of a home contains remnants of their brilliant existence. Long after they depart, their fur remains lodged in articles of clothing, embedded in the furniture… almost like divine glitter.
There was a piece of fur floating in my coffee today… glowing like a condiment… a strand of gold in a cup of oily black. It was also a reminder of all the times he smiled at me in the morning as I made my daily cup of joe, knowing his food was also on the way.
When they leave us, dogs also leave a trail of pulverized hearts. While ours are on the mend, even years later, we are full of gratitude to have had Ramses for as long as we did. We will miss our King of Kings.
The Ramses Foundation is named in his memory. We hope to share what we have learned, as well as what other experts can add. The goal is to extend the length and quality of life for our furbabies.
Thank you for visiting.
