November 01, 2005
Farewell to a fine friend
Winston 1990-2005
Yesterday I said goodbye to my longtime friend, Winston. He and his brother Churchill came into my life as nine-week old puppies more than 15 years ago. Throughout his life, he was loyal and faithful, always a comfort.
After coming to Washington, he quickly established himself as a popular figure in our Capitol Hill neighborhood. When he became one of the most famous dogs in America early in 2005, he took his celebrity in stride.
At the height of Gannongate, I spoke of my best friend in an interview with Deborah Solomon in The New York Times Magazine:
“I have a dog named Winston. I am still the same to Winston, no matter what, and there is comfort in that. Winston doesn't watch the news.”
Winston was also mentioned in David Margolick’s article in Vanity Fair. He wrote:
“If you want a friend in Washington, Harry Truman famously said, get a dog. Gannon did one better, bringing Winston with him, and it turned out to be a wise move.”
Life with Winston had its share of misadventures. He and his brother sometimes fought, like brothers do. Winston usually came out on the short end of their battles and more than once a trip to the vet was needed to patch him up. Churchill went to live with my mom when I moved to Washington.
Winston's most memorable miscues came as a result of his own frenetic behavior. One Christmas Eve he locked himself in a car that was running by stepping on the door button and had to be rescued by a mechanic. Once when I still drove a jeep, he leaped from my lap and jumped into a fast food drive-through window. The pandemonium that ensued inside the restaurant as people standing in line at the counter scattered while frantic teenagers in paper hats tried to catch him looked like a scene from a Disney film. The eatery had to be shut down for a brief period to clean up after the melee.
All of these things I will remember fondly along with the quiet times when he would sleep on his pillow as I tapped away at a news story or a column.
He was always there, through the ups and downs. No matter how bad my day was, I always knew there would be joyful licks when I came home.
That's what I'll miss most of all.
Posted by jeffgannon at 06:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack