Pushkin on NCIS & the Holiday Season
Pushkin made his debut on NCIS in the Thanksgiving episode of 2009. His picture was featured in a little girl’s room, tacked up right next to the piece of artwork that was stolen — the focal point of the storyline. If you missed Pushkin’s picture in the first scene, you could catch it again when the investigators returned to the scene of the crime: there’s Pushkin on his patio pillow, next to the now-empty space.
When the episode aired, Pushkin had been gone for almost ten months, and I was entering into my first holiday season without him. As silly as it may have been, seeing him on television, knowing millions of viewers also were seeing him, gave my heart a little leap of joy. It was extra fun because so many of my family and friends were watching east-coast time: the telephone started ringing and detailed reports about the episode (including exact times of Pushkin appearances and screen shots) came pouring in before the episode aired here in Tucson. The beagle lives on! For this, I’m so grateful to my dear friend Dan Lynch, part of the show’s crew, and the set designer, Lynn Wolverton-Parker. A picture of Lynn’s cat who had recently passed away is also on the little girl’s wall in that episode. I thank them for believing in the Letters To Pushkin project and for this nod to the beagle who inspired it all. I like to think Pushkin is having a good old time in heaven, happy to sign the occasional autograph.
So here’s some fun trivia for NCIS fans. After that episode, the same picture migrated over to Ziva’s cubicle in the squad room, where it’s been ever since. Meanwhile, across the way in McGee’s cubicle, a portrait of Pushkin also has become part of the set.
Recently, I was reminded by a friend of a poem by W.S. Merwin:
Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle,
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
I know everyone has someone they’re missing, especially during the holidays. Loss is, indeed, threaded through the tapestry of all our lives. This will be my third holiday season since Pushkin’s passing; time has a way of teaching us how to carry the loss while still having meaningful lives and experiencing joy, but the loss is always there.
For the upcoming holiday episode of NCIS, Pushkin’s portrait behind McGee’s desk was dressed up a bit. Something as simple as a Santa hat on his picture warms my heart so much, to see the beagle looking so festive. So I once again have to thank my friends at NCIS, the crew and cast members that have become supporters of Letters To Pushkin, for doing this – not just for the beagle, but for me. Thank you so much for this kindness.
I wish everyone peace during this holiday season, with this post as a reminder that small acts of kindness can make a difference to someone who is missing someone. And that it’s the little things we do each day that can bring us hope and keep us connected to the presence of loved ones who have passed on. Each day, I hope that Pushkin hears me when I say good morning to him… and when I say, “sweet dreams” each night. Hope. That, among other things, is what the spirit that came to me in a beagle body taught me, and still teaches me every day.
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Beautiful words of remembrance about your little pal. Sending love and holiday greetings. xx L
This is lovely and heart-warming, Sharon!
Love this: “time has a way of teaching us how to carry the loss while still having meaningful lives and experiencing joy, but the loss is always there.” So true!
Sharon
That was so perfect. It made me think about Painter and Lily greyhounds and how they have been memorialized and not forgotten.
Pushkin lives on in all of us.