I remember how excited I was at only 10 to be -finally- getting the puppy I always wanted. And he was such a little bundle of puppy-fat and fur. He was the biggest of his litter, hence, the big brute, aka Brutus. He's really tall for a lab and once he grew up he was over 100lbs, I remember a period of time where we weighed the same as I when I was growing up!
During middle school and high school, you know, those awkward years... he was everything to me. I didn't have a lot of friends living close by so if I needed someone to cry on it was him. I've buried my face in his neck so many times I couldn't even count it. Sometimes I get jumpy when I'm home alone and when I hear a noise and get nervous if I call him up to my room he'll stand on my bed and look out the window with his tail high if he knows I'm scared. I doubt he'd do a very good job guarding me, he greets everyone like a long-lost friend, but he makes me feel better just being there.
I try not to think about how old he is for a big dog, my family is going to be lost without him. But he's hands-down the reason why I love dogs. He's the reason I went to volunteer at the local humane society when I had to do some sort of volunteer work for school. When I was there I met pitbulls up close and personal for the first time, and I was never the same for it. So in a way, he's the reason I'm on this forum today!
Anyway, enough nostalgia, on to pictures!!
This was the first day we had him, such a little blob!
Handsome boy!!
More recent photo where you can see all his gray
Most recent one I have, my cousin took this one, adorable...
She automatically loses her mind when she sees another black lab 
She has a slight problem 
He's lost a little luster in his old age but he's still got that glossy look. Unfortunately he has fatty tumors all over his body now (non-cancerous, we've checked) that you can see perfectly well because of the glossiness, so we all lovingly call him "lumpy"!!
