BJ Nickelson

May 10, 2004 - October 30, 2021

BJ, in short, was for 'Black Jack'. He was the son of our family’s pet Buster. We had his uncle, Patchy Joe, as well and carried on a line of this family of Jack Russel mixes for nearly 20 years. BJ was always part of the pack - often being the alpha. He had such a big personality. Happy, ornery and maybe a little bossy but we didn’t mind! He loved everyone!
He was our first 'child'. We’d go to the store and bring him home a toy and he'd take it right out of the sack like a 'hooman'. He was 3 when we rescued his doggy sister, Lexi. We were worried that our 'king' wouldn’t do well sharing but they ended up becoming the best of friends.
When our daughter Journey was born, she bonded with BJ immediately. She called him 'Dude', 'Handsome', 'Bubba J', 'Brother Bear' and many more. Any stuffed animal that looked like BJ, she would sucker us into buying it and bringing it home to her collection. Her all time favorite was her 'Baby J'.
BJ was the biggest food hound around. He’d sit like a 'totem pole' using his little tail as a kickstand when begging. He’d snatch up about anything (other than pretzels) if you weren’t looking. One of his all time favorites was Vanilla Wafers - with just a little bit of the leftover chocolate pudding right from the cup; that would get stuck on his nose. He’d roll around his food and water bowls with his cute bear claws if we ever let them get too empty.
He loved playing soccer - and not just the stuffed dog-toy kind but an actual soccer ball. He was short enough that he’d roll right over the top of it. He pierced a few balls when trying to carry it around. He’d get hot and rest under the bush or we’d hose him down on a hot day. We enjoyed many walks and car rides in our day too. He was always ready to go bye-bye.
A memory that is brought up with family members often was on his 5th birthday. We had taken him to Petco to pick out some presents — including an orange Hawaiian shirt to wear to his backyard party. He was a sneaky guy and managed to get out of a small hole in the fence. Bryan had to jump the fence to chase around a zoomy orange streak until he was safely back home.
There are so many more memories and so many tears shed as we miss him. Our lives seem so quiet and empty without you, buddy. Rest easy, we’ll see you when we get there to play another game of soccer ball and walk to work."