‘Beanie’ Block 2007-2024

Beanie Iowa Moore Block lived a full furbaby life. Beanie was born on December 10, 2007, in the state of Iowa and moved to West Hollywood in March 2008. The purebred Italian Greyhound was black and white with Irish markings. Irish markings are indicated by a white contrast on a dog’s paws, underbelly, or tail. As a puppy, Beanie would always climb to the highest point she could find. She would sit on the top ledge of a chair or climb up to rest on your shoulders. Unlike many Italian Greyhounds, she never got the shakes. She was a confident, courageous, loving soul. I’d often ask her, “Who is in there?” for Beanie was the gift that just kept on giving.

The life of Beanie and her parents would change forever after just one year. A car accident in Palm Springs left Beanie blind in one eye. While the human passengers in the car were fine, Beanie had hit her eye and head on the door in the back seat. She was rushed to the local hospital in Palm Springs where the doctor suggested we put her down. I wanted a second opinion. A trek across the desert to a larger animal hospital gave us hope. We left Beanie there for a week. Beanie survived the accident and soon came home with her tail wagging.

It was a twist of fate when just one year later Beanie’s dad, me, would lose my sight in one eye too. A detached retina and subsequent fold left me blind in my left eye. Doctors’ orders had me laying face down over a period of three months, and Beanie would lay on top of my back every single day. When the final diagnosis left me permanently blind in one eye with partial sight in the other, it was Beanie who showed me that my life could go forward and my tail could wag too.

Beanie and I did not waste much time living with our disabilities. It was just a few months later that we walked into an old Different Light Bookstore together and sat on the floor before deciding whether to take the plunge and open BlockParty. Beanie ran across the shop and broke in the store with a potty. My friend said it was good luck. She marked the spot.

Eventually, we got a sister for Beanie. Peanut arrived three years later. Peanut was autistic and a scared, shaky Italian Greyhound. Peanut attached herself to Beanie, but Beanie didn’t really care much. She was a people dog, always most comfortable close to me.

Throughout the years, Beanie played host to many barbecues in the backyard, including the Hillary Clinton kickoff campaign which she helped to host. Beanie appeared in my campaign mailers along with Peanut. We were a family.

Beanie’s end had been in view for a few years. With a cataract in her other eye, the years left her mostly blind. But she loved to lay in the sun outside and still found her way to the bedroom and the step to the bed. Beanie taught me the most valuable lesson in this life. She showed me how to live with a disability and to keep wagging my tail. It’s a lesson for all: never give up and keep smiling.