Where you, the reader, take over. Send it in! Can be about anything! Almost! Email to peter.b.abrahams@gmail.com and put Phriday Photos in the subject line.

And now over to Maury (WTAFP), a very good friend of the blog. (I was lucky enough to meet Wookie in person, btw.)

Wookie’s Story

Wookie was our first dog as well as our first golden retriever (technically, we had first fallen in love with golden retrievers as a breed taking care of our neighbor’s golden retriever, Casey, who became Wookie’s best friend after we adopted Wookie). Wookie was a rescue, coming to us from a golden retriever rescue organization in the area (Casey had been adopted by our neighbors from the same organization) and we got him more or less full grown at about 8 months.

If there is a single word to describe Wookie, that word would be majestic. Wookie was not a pure bred golden, but clearly (from appearance) had a little Chow in him as well (probably grandmother on the mother’s side had strayed), although in temperament he was pure golden. In any event, he was adorned with some of the crown that goes with a Chow and he looked more like a lion (but a friendly one) than anything else. He had a physical presence that was both unique and compelling. And he was definitely a big boy, weighing close to 120 pounds in his prime.

Wookie did not like grooming at all (although after being bathed, he didn’t mind and even seemed to enjoy being blown dry by a hair dryer, which we referred to as spa day). His grooming largely occurred at home, because after about three visits to a groomer, he was banned by the groomer for life for taking offense at being on an elevated table that he did not like (and knocking it over as he dismounted).

One of our most memorable events with Wookie was one time when he was with us walking around the Mall in DC and we were approached by a group of Japanese tourists (mostly teenagers) who had never seen a dog anything like him. They were completely enchanted by his regal appearance and his gentle manner, and spent about 20 minutes talking video after video of him. We were convinced that, after they returned home, the lion/dog wonder known as Wookie would be an instant television/internet sensation in Japan, based on all the videos that they took of him.

Wookie loved Vermont and greatly enjoyed our travels there. One of the photos is of Wookie in Vermont. However, he did learn the painful lesson once that you do not chase a cat with a white stipe down its back, particularly at night. It took several days for the smell to finally wear off.

Wookie loved quilting and the quilt ladies who would come to our house to work on quilts. He viewed safeguarding quilts as an important responsibility, as one of the photos shows. Wookie was also incredibly devoted to my father, who was living with us at the time, and my father reciprocated by petting him constantly whenever he could.

Of our three dogs, he was the only one that seemed to bond with cats as well as dogs. He was very closely to Chumly (who lived next door with Casey) and they would often be seen snuggling with one another, although if they realized they were being watched, they would immediately pop up and pretend that nothing was going on. He also was very close with the cat of a friend of ours named Zuma, who he only met once but it was clearly love at first sight for both of them.

As some of you may remember, Wookie was diagnosed with lymphoma at age 9, but he did not let that stop him in any way, as he was a real fighter and survivor. He went through the full chemo regime that humans go through for treatment of lymphoma, a total of 16 treatments spread once a week over 19 weeks (with three breaks after each round of four weekly chemo treatments). He lived another year and a half in full remission; unfortunately as a result of his compromised immune system, he contracted leptospirosis, which ultimately destroyed his kidneys, but even there he survived over a year following that diagnosis. One benefit was that, since protein would accelerate kidney damage, his protein intake during his last year of live was reduced as a result of his being placed on what is known as “the cupcake diet.” He loved it. While he was being treated, his oncologist at first was somewhat reserved (her passion was for goldens as a breed but, as an oncologist, she felt she could never own one because they were so prone to cancers, and she had Jack Russell terriers instead) mainly as a self-protective measure because so many of her patients did not survive very long, but as it became clear that Wookie would not succumb quickly, she too succumbed to his charms. As a final testament to his special character was that, when the end was drawing near, he knew it would be too painful for us if he died on Christmas Day, and he persevered until mid-day on December 26, before succumbing to his condition.

On the blog, Wookie was one of the original posters, as Wookie of Chevy Chase, and was very active on the blog from its beginning until he crossed the rainbow bridge at the end of 2013. Perhaps his most notable achievement was winning the contest that Spence ran for which an advanced readers copy of To Fetch a Thief was the prize. The contest involved answering 10 questions from the first two books, and Wookie’s answer to the last question, in which he connected the aquifer and a photo of Niagara Falls over Bernie’s safe to the Abbott & Costello routine about Niagara Falls (slowly I turn, step by step) is what set him apart from the other contestants.

On the blog, Wookie frequently collaborated in mischief and missions with his buddy Rio the Evil Pug, and joined with other blog members in various “missions” mainly intended to try to uncover details about what Spence would next be writing. He also managed to attend one World Collection, accompanied by Rio, SiberH and Wolfie Wigglebut. He was a devoted follower of Snowhook, supporting all of the silent auctions conducted on the blog to raise funds for Snowhook’s Iditarod runs, and indeed a photograph of him was carried by AJ on the entire Iditarod race route one year, I think it was 2013, and the photo was of the first time that he ever experienced snow (attached). His mission work gave rise to his later moniker of Agent 00Wookie, and he definitely preferred his martini shaken and not stirred, so as to avoid bruising the gin. (The last photo is of Agent 00Wookie properly attired with a bow tie.)