November 2010 – October 15, 2025
My best friend, my travel buddy, and my co-pilot through more than a decade of adventures — Nixon Clinton Flash — passed away on October 15, 2025. He was born in November 2010, half Border Collie and half Springer Spaniel, and completely pure love.
I adopted Nixon when he was just over a year old, not long after my younger brother was killed. I was broken then, and Nixon helped me heal. His loyalty, patience, and gentle soul brought light back into my life. He wasn’t just a dog — he was my heart, my shadow, and my comfort through everything that followed.
From the start, Nixon amazed me. The first time I brought him to my apartment in College Station, I had him on a leash. The second time, he led the way — straight to our door — even though every building in that complex looked exactly the same. He just knew where home was.
He was intelligent, kind, and calm — the kind of dog who made everyone around him happier. Kids would ask, “Mister, can I pet your dog?” and I’d say yes, knowing he’d treat them with the same gentleness he showed everyone.
Nixon joined me in volunteer work too. Through Aggieland Pets With a Purpose and Hospice Brazos Valley, he brought comfort to nursing home residents and hospice patients. I’ll never forget one visit when a man in a wheelchair smiled as Nixon gently rested his paws on his knees and began kissing him. “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy,” the man said again and again. It was one of those small moments that reminded me why he was so special.
He was also the best big brother. His sisters, Molly and Bailey, adored him. Molly had come from a tough past, but Nixon’s calm presence helped her feel safe again. And he loved my mom — mostly because she always gave him extra treats.
In 2021, Nixon and I moved out west to Fort Davis, where we lived for a year on the Point of Rocks Ranch. He loved it there — barking at llamas, cows, and chickens, and running free across the desert landscape. We’d spend quiet afternoons by the riverbanks, where he’d watch horses cross from the Mexico side to drink. Around Marfa, people were always kind to him. And at Los Ojitos in Big Bend Ranch State Park, when he was still young, he’d run across the open land with pure joy — the way dogs are meant to live.
As he got older and couldn’t hike anymore, I’d still see his paws twitch in his sleep — dreaming of the trails he loved. That’s how I like to picture him now: running through the desert wind, free and happy.
Nixon was there through everything — the growth of Big Bend Times and Texas Reporter, cross-country drives, heartbreak, healing, and rebuilding. He was the best part of my life for fifteen years, and I’ll always be grateful that he was mine.
Run free, buddy. You’ll always be with me — in every road trip, every photo, every quiet moment by the water.
Thank you to the team at Stardust Pet Cremations in Austin, Texas for the love, care, professionalism, and dignity y’all brought to Nixon’s final car ride, his cremation, and the delivery of his remains, paw print, hair clippings, and nose print along with lovely flowers and kind, compassionate words.
David W. Flash 