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Having finished driving the stainless steel cross
into the ground that I had fabricated at our welding and
machine shop, I stood up to look at it.
Many happy
memories flooded my mind and the tears flooded down my
cheeks as I reflected back over the years of great and happy
times spent together. Riding in the boat fishing, flying in
our plane to our west Texas office, walks through the woods,
trips in the pickup, beachcombing, arrowhead hunting at the
ranch, helping (or hindering)with cattle roundup and many,
many other fun hours spent together.
It was
early summer 1981 when Misty Blue, my one dark eye, one blue
eyed Heeler passed away suddenly. We had been fun partners
for sixteen years and she had been active until the abrupt
end by heart failure I was told.
I turned
to look at the sad faces and tears of my wife and children,
then back at the inscription I had welded to the face of the
cross. "We Will Meet At The Rainbow Bridge Someday
Sweetheart- Misty Blue, 1965-1981".
"I will
never, ever have another dog. They just don't live long
enough and it's too painful, like losing one of you when
they go." I told my family.
Fast
forward to a cold, drizzling January night during supper
1997.
The phone
rang.
"My two
pit bulls have your little puppy cornered in my garage" my
neighbor said.
"Puppy? I
don't own a puppy." Was my reply.
"Oh!
There's been a little dog hanging around a couple of days
stealing catfish food from the sack in the garage. I've run
her off several times" My wife said.
"I'll be
right there" as I told my neighbor not to let her get hurt.
There she
was, all two pounds of her, teeth bared at the two giant pit
bulls, bluffing her meanness, trying to save herself.
I picked
her up and she squirmed quickly inside my coat and up to my
armpit shaking uncontrollably.
Back at
the house I showed her to my wife who told me that was the
dog she had been scaring out of the garage.
She
smelled the food on the table and while still shaking
started to sniff and lick her lips in anticipation of some
food. She was starving.
Leaving
her on a heating pad in a bathtub, I went to the store and
got her some good dog food since I knew table food was not
good at all for her. She filled up.
The next
morning I called the paper and started a free, three day,
found ad for lost pets. I also contacted Animal Control and
Lost Pet Hotline to alert them. The newspaper ad read,
"Found Chihuahua, call and identify". We thought she was a
Chihuahua cross of some kind at that time.
Five AM or
so, I'm reading the paper. The phone rings, "Nope, not her",
the other line lights up, "Nope" and it is nearly continual
calls, but no one identifies her. This goes on for two
weeks.
At supper
one night my wife looked at me as I held her while she
affectionately licked my hands. "Too late now, isn't it" she
said.
"Yep, what
are we going to name her?" I replied.
"Whaaaateeeeever!"
My wife slowly breathed out.
And so it
was to the vet for getting into good shape with shots, pills
and tags. She got a bath and shampoo to go with her new
collar. The vet checked her profile and determined she
wasn't a Chihuahua cross but a short legged toy rat terrier.
Fine with me.
She now
goes everywhere with us. She guards the truck, our home, the
office, and anyplace we stay. We go on the boat fishing and
check the garden together. She has set herself up as chief
squirrel and swan monitor so they don't get too close to me.
This past
summer we spent two weeks fishing in Alaska together. The
airline stewardesses and surrounding passengers just adored
and petted her on both going and return flights. She just
loved the attention from everyone.
She beat
the odds of finding a loving caring home. Especially with a
guy that rarely if ever goes back on his words,,,,. Well,
this is different? Right?
Friends
and the office staff call her the lottery winner.
Mark Crider <mark @ cccoating.com>
Existential philosopher,
raconteur, and dean of dirty words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blessings to you today
Bob Johnston
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