Saying Goodbye to Bond the Black Lab
Our Top Tier family lost one of our favorites recently. Bond the Black Lab, our Greeting Manager, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Bond was a huge part of the shop and the Schumann family for almost 8 years.
Tim and Meg got Bond in October of 2016. Meg was pregnant with their second daughter Willa and Mae, their oldest was 2 years old. While welcoming a new puppy with a 2 year old, a baby on the way and a business that was super demanding might not have been the best idea, Bond came into the family being the calmest, sweetest boy possible from day one. Bond quickly learned the daily routine working in the office, greeting all of the plumbers in the morning and in the afternoon when they got back from jobs and anyone else who happened to stop in the shop throughout the day. He went home at night and worked just as hard, always being a loving presence.
Bond helped Meg through the last 8 years of life probably the most. Anyone who has had two young children with a very demanding job and a husband who is working a demanding job understands how difficult those days can be. Juggling customers, employees and family demands was hard, and Bond was the ever present figure through the late nights, early mornings, buckets of stress and tears. Bond was never too far from Meg; he was happy being a Momma’s boy.
Bond was a popular guy in a lot of delivery driver’s lives – anyone new to the shop typically got surprised when he came up behind them and would go right through their legs to make sure that they saw him to give him some love and attention. Bond was not an athletic dog, but he knew how to come quickly when he heard a chip bag open or the drivers with the dog biscuits.
Bond taught us a lot in a short amount of time. He loved without abandon. He always showed up and was there for others. He was there for some of the hardest, most challenging years faced in Top Tier and in the Schumann family. Even if we had 20 years with him it wouldn’t have felt like enough. But if you’re lucky to have great love like that even for a brief period of time, then you’re lucky to have a life that is fuller as a result. And we are extremely lucky. Bond was like lightening in a bottle, rare and special and too fleeting. Thank you Bond. Enjoy your time again with Paisley, and there is no doubt Aunt Sarah and Uncle Sean were excited to meet you. They’ll take great care of you until we meet again. Thank you for bringing so much love to all of us at Top Tier.
