A boy’s childhood should be filled with tents, flashlights, camping, lakes, fishing, and if God is good, a great dog. Matthew was an outdoor kid, and Boomer was a perfect match, because he was an outdoor dog!
When Matthew shot hoops outside, Boomer would bring the tennis ball over and Matthew would chuck it over the house. When Matthew played soccer in the front yard, Boomer would try and steal the ball. He would play touch football with Matthew and all his friends. Steve and Matthew would have a game where Boomer would go to the line of scrimmage and they would pretend to throw a nerf football. Boomer would run a “pattern” looking for the ball to land, and Matthew would try and hit him with a pass. If it hit him on the fly, it was worth 6 points. If it bounced and hit him, it was 3 points. If he caught it in his mouth, well, that would have been incredible. Matthew loved sports and so did Boomer.
When Matthew took Boomer hiking we all loved to sleep in the tent. Boomer, unfortunately, would usually throw up in the tent, because he ran around the woods eating who-knows-what during the day.
The picture below also sums up how Matthew felt about Boomer. He loved spending time with him. The picture was taken on the bridge crossing Franconia Brook on the Wilderness Trail.
