ST. LOUIS — I love the Lord, my family, sports and dogs.
Tonight, I am spending my last night with my best friend.
That's Jackson next to me, one who has spent a lot of time at KSDK. I certainly didn't want to be without him tonight and here we are preparing for the 10 p.m. sports newscast.
He's not big in stature but is a tough guy. He likes meat, watching football on the couch and picking fights with other dogs. His nickname was "Rumble." and boy, did he growl.
To paraphrase the theme from "Shaft," nobody understood him but me.
He was my guy and named after my favorite player, Reggie Jackson.
Every night when I came home at 10:45 p.m., he greeted me like a long-lost soldier. I always loved his greetings like, "Congrats Dad, you made it home. So proud of you." Then we would have a midnight snack.
Monique objected and Jack insisted, and I always sided with Jack.
We weren't just joined at the hip, we were physically connected at the hip. Every night, he was on my left side in bed and on the road, I didn't sleep well without him.
His kidneys have shut down, and he hasn't eaten in five days. We tried everything from Chick-fil-A to ice cream.
We have to say goodbye tomorrow morning, and I would rather be shot.
But if somebody asked you could have a best friend but you could only have him for 10 years, would you do it? My answer: Every day and twice on Sundays.