Dog bust bookend

Here we have a museum quality dog bust bookend. […] I don’t actually know much about it, but it was my grandfather’s. He was a veterinarian and it was in his office, on his desk, for over 30 years. He was a vet in a small town in Northeastern Ohio called Boardman. […] He died a few years ago in 2011.

One of the last times I saw him, we were saying our goodbyes. I had my hand in his, he was quite frail. […] He gets this look in his eyes that’s very clear, intense, cutting through any of the past years of confusion. So I’m trying to meet his, and looking back at him, for some reason I thought the best thing to say at that time was, “I got this.” […] If you look at the family tree, I’m probably the last one to carry on his name. I come from a big family, but he had 5 children but 3 of them were daughters. […] Not that a name means everything, I didn’t pick mine. There are other Crago’s in the world. […]

The thing of it is, I don’t know that I got it. I don’t know. Day to day, shit can seem pretty desperate. It’s tough in the trenches. What I have here is a reminder of him. A name is important, the long view is important, and I’m still working on those things, but I got this [holds up object].

Exhibited by Andrew Crago

Transcript edited by S. Washington