05/22/2026
I remember the day I was told Fenway was too far gone and wasn’t going to make it. Blastomycosis had overtaken so much of his body. They left us alone in the room so I could make my decision and say good bye. I asked Fenway if he wanted me to help him cross the rainbow bridge. He could barely stand and was laying on the floor. He had no reaction. Then I asked him, “Or what if we try to fight this and if you beat it, I promise to take you hiking in the mountains for the first time?” He started weakly wagging his tail and looked up and tried to get up to give me a kiss and that’s when I decided we were going to fight. I knew he wanted to keep hiking with me. He didn’t know what a mountain was but I knew he’d love it. We fought like hell for a year and I thought I was going to lose him a few times. In those hard days I’d talk to him about our mountain trip and how beautiful it would be and how I couldn’t wait to see one for the first time with him. One time I was laying next to him telling him all this with his vet trying to get blood and she noticed how when I was telling him all this, he’d wag his tail. She told me to keep always talking to him about that trip since she fully believed that was what he was fighting to live for and it was doing him good. I also believed that. After he beat it we spent the next year reconditioning him, regaining muscle and stamina. He needed lots of breaks but eventually got to a point I felt he could handle it. In 2020 we took our mountain trip and I absolutely lost it and had to pull over once we could finally see them. I couldn’t believe we were finally there and seeing our mountains. So many of those days I talked to him about it, part of me thought he wasn’t going to make it and I thought the trip was going to be with his ashes. But nope. He was in the back seat hanging out the window looking so excited, full of life and it was surreal.
He never once needed a break on any hike on that trip. Which was strange to me. He had so much more energy and he had never looked happier on a hike. He seemed sad on our last day as I loaded the car up and once back home in Chicago I swear he looked depressed. I’d catch him sniffing the mountain rocks I brought back with us. And I missed the mountains as well. Within 2 months I said F it and just packed up the bare minimum of our stuff and moved us to Colorado so he could live out his life hiking. His heart was damaged by Blasto and I was told it would not improve. After living here for 3 years we did a heart check and the cardiologist said he’s a miracle since his heart actually did improve and was healthier than when he was 4.
I wanted a tattoo to represent this story. I wanted nature coming out of his scar to show how something beautiful can come from something bad. I didn’t want it to be Fenway IN nature, I wanted it to be Fenway being nature, consumed by it and what was giving him life. I told his artist that and let her have full freedom on creating this and she absolutely nailed it.
I did say I wanted a moose but I wanted it off in the distance and a silhouette but she was worried it would end up looking like a blob and thought it would be better to have it up front and detailed. Tbh I was unsure of that and the placement but I trusted her and honestly the moose is my favorite part of this other than Fen’s cute face. I wanted a moose because the first year or so here I would plan hikes at certain times with the goal of seeing one. We never did. We’d hear from other hikers they just saw one but they’d be gone for us. I was so frustrated and said I was done looking for them. Immediately after that we started running into them more than half our hikes. Fenway loves watching them and just knows to not bark at them lol then 2 years ago we had a terrifying hike that we never finished because we got chased for a mile by a moose 😅 and then last year one snuck up behind us about 10 feet and we had to get away through the water 😂 so it’s just funny to me how the second we stopped looking, it’s like they find us and our moose encounters are some of my favorite memories with him🥰
I’m so happy I finally got this tattoo and I love the artist I chose.
