Show & Tell

This is probably my favorite image I’ve ever made.To me it’s better than anything I ever captured at The Republic, and it’s better than anything I’ve photographed at MTSU. It’s better because this is my best friend – and my best friend has now left us.

Anyone who met Sid almost always fell in love with her. I know I did. At the end of May 1994 my parents decided to let me get a dog. We went to the Bartholomew County Humane Society and in a kennel on the right side, about in the middle – I remember this like it was yesterday – was this black and white, bushy three year old dog. I told my parents no one would adopt a three year old dog, and this was the dog for us. A few days later, Sid, the newest addition to the Heidt family, was riding in the backseat of my father’s car on the way back to our house. Not much longer after that we discovered that Sid was actually not three – but only 10 months old – a literal puppy. 50 lbs. of puppy.

What  followed from the summer before my sophomore year of high school to now was nothing short of wonderful. Sid was our dog. She was just like us – she fit in perfectly. She made my sister a dog person. She was a loyal companion to my mother as she quilted and cooked dinner. She was up early with my father on weekends when he worked in his home office. To me, well, she was everything I’d ever wanted in a friend.

I have so many memories of Sid that I’m not even sure what to write, so I will tell you some of the things I miss the most. I miss Sid barking for a tennis ball. I miss her digging at the carpet underneath my bed in my parents’ house. I miss her sleeping at my sister’s feet when Sarah was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I miss her fights with the towel that covered one of her dog beds. I miss her white paws, chest, snout and sleek, black body. I miss sniff-o-lux. I miss my father inverting her, and her tail hitting him in the side of the head. I miss how much she loved bananas. I miss how she’d jump up on my ottoman and hop over to the couch when she’d visit my house in Columbus. Most of all I miss how she made my family smile. We were so lucky to have Sid in our lives, and for that I am so grateful.